Entropy
by Dalek Prime
Summary: The Pines family receive a mysterious summons to Gotham City, where they discover a horrific chapter in their family's history occurred. And while the Pines try to piece together their past, Wendy has an agenda of her own: to find her mother. Monsters and madmen await the group at every turn, and if they are to survive, they may have to go a little mad to do so.
1. Prolouge: Fall of The House of Pines

A/N: I don't own Batman or Gravity Falls

* * *

Prologue: Fall of the House of Pines

 _ **Gotham City, 1863, Halloween Night**_

Fall to the edge of the ever-growing city that was Gotham, there stood a mansion. However, this mansion did not belong to one of the more illustrates families such as the Waynes or Copplepots, but to a different family entirely, one that set its roots here long along during the war of eighteen-twelve. The family had high hopes to make themselves as big as the famous families that had helped to shape Gotham into the beacon of modernity that it had become. However, unlike those families, this family had a less then respectable name to it, and that was mostly due to the head of the family.

His name was Allister Pines, and he was a man not to be trusted.

While Allister was supposedly a kind and loving man to his two children after their mother died of polio, he was not welcome among the people of Gotham due to how he portrayed himself in the public eye. Allister was a ruthless businessman and had the corner in the tobacco markets as far as New York and parts Canada and didn't care who he had to step on to keep his wealth. It wasn't just his life as businessman that earned him the ire of Gothamites, but also the rumors that swirled around him about his personal life. It was said that Allister and what few friends he had practiced witchcraft in the confines of his mansion. Not only that, but it was also believed that Allister and his cohorts worshipped dark forces in exchange for money and power.

Hi few companions were also powerful members of the iconoclast as well, all of whom had their hands in deplorable works. They were masters of slave trading, prostitution, opium and other acts that be looked down on. Like Allister's family, they were all collectively looked down upon by not just the five families that helped to build Gotham, but by the public on a whole for the lengths of brutality they would go to attain their wealth. Even worse, Allister and his allies were in full support of the Confederacy ever since the Civil War had begun despite their home city was on the side of the Union.

The tension between the people of Gotham and Pines finally came to a head when several children began to go missing. People where at first suspicious of the head of Pines manor and his friends of being the ones behind the disappearances, but they stayed silent and allowed the police to continue the investigation on their own. That was until earlier today when a couple of fishermen reeled in the severed head of one missing children from the lake. It didn't matter that there was no evidence that tied the corpse to Allister, all that mattered was that the city wanted justice.

Allister could see the fire from mob's touches from his bedroom window as they made their way toward his mansion. The ousted millionaire didn't run or even feel an ounce of fear in his being. He knew that his actions would bring him to this moment, and he and his friends were more than prepared for it. He went back down stairs to rejoin his cohorts who were currently waiting for him in a foray.

Their names were Hoyt Gleeful, Maurice Ramirez, Sebastian Valentino and Madison Madix, and together with their distant friend in the west, Roland Northwest, they made up a group known as the Inner Circle.

"Just a matter of time I suppose" Hoyt mentioned to his companions as he poured himself a glass of brandy "It couldn't be helped"

"We would've have had more time to prepare if someone hide the bodies better" Madison sneered as she glanced over to Maurice who glowered back at her

"That's enough" Allister commanded sternly "we can't turn on each other now. We all knew that this would happened at some point, that's why we set up our little back-up plan"

"Is everything set?" Sebastian inquired

"Yes, Roland has everything ready for you all" Allister assured his friends "I've already sent my children west. They'll be safe from all this, as will all of you"

"What about you, Allister?" Madison asked in concern

"I will stay behind while the rest of you make your escape out of the city" their leader explained

"No!" Madison denied "without you all of our plans will fall apart!"

"Only set back, my dear Madison" he replied "So long as our bloodlines endure, then we will succeed one day"

He then reached out and gently stroked the side of her face.

"My heart couldn't bear the pain of seeing you being hung" he said in a bittersweet tone before pulling his hand away "Now go, all of you, before the mob gets any closer"

Allister's companions looked at their friend with sadness in their eyes. They all dreamed of doing wondrous things for the world together, but Allister was right, so long as their bloodlines survived, so to would their plans. Together, the other members of the Inner Circle stood together and joined hands as they stood in a circle and said their mantra one final time as a group.

"We are the circle" they said in unison

With that, Hoyt and the others quickly made their way out of the back of the building. Madison gave one final kiss goodbye to the man she had grown to love before forcing herself to flee with her friends, leaving Allister to face the oncoming lynch mob on his own. Several minutes after his allies had departed, Allister heard the sound of someone pounding furiously one his front door. He straightened out his shirt and vest as if he was about greet guests into his home. He walked over to the door and opened it up to find a large mob of nearly fifty enraged townspeople, all of whom were carrying torches, pitchforks, clubs and other tools that they intended to use on the businessman. At the forefront of the mob were the heads of the most influential families in Gotham, Jeremiah Arkam, Abraham Cobblepot, Ezekiel Elliot and Johnathan Wayne.

"And to what do I owe this visit at this hour, gentlemen?" he asked the mob causally

"We just want answers, Allister" Johnathan replied "There's a mystery afoot, and we need your help to decipher fact from fact"

"There is no debate here, Wayne!" Cobblepot snapped "We know the bastard and his friends killed those children, and we'll bring him to justice!"

The mob cheered in agreement, but Allister remained unafraid in the face of all the rage around him.

"Yes, I did it" he confessed "I do not regret what I have done, for it was for the greater good"

"The greater good?" Johnathan repeated in disbelief "Are you mad?! What good could come from this madness!"

"If you only knew, Wayne" Allister informed him "One day soon this world will be changed for the better and on that day, you'll all wished you had joined us!"

The crowd was in almost in complete shock upon hearing how calm Pines was to justify the murder of such innocence. Soon however, their shock quickly turned to rage.

"I say we kill the bastard!" one of the members of the crowd shouted, to which the mob agreed

"No! we will not lower ourselves to his level!" Wayne protested "He is sick and needs help! He should be brought to Jeremiah's Asylum! Yes, he should face justice, but one before a court, not a mob!"

But the millionaire's pleas were ignored as one of the members of the crowd drew his gun and fired, striking Allister in the torso. While the crowd cheered as the sight of the murderer stumbling backwards, Johnathan was modified beyond words. Allister quickly limped back into his mansion and slammed the door before his attackers could get a hold of him. Johnathan pushed past several people to try to get to Pines before following him into the mansion. Allister maybe a monster, but Wayne was determined to see this man brought to justice by the law and not by a gang of vigilantes. Johnathan quickly locked the door behind before seeing a trail of Allister's blood that lead up to the upper of the mansion. Meanwhile outside, the rest of the mob pounded of the front door in an attempt to break it down before Cobblepot's voice rang out through the crowd.

"Burn it down, lads!" he commanded

"Are you mad, Abraham?" Jeremiah shouted "Wayne is still in there!"

"If that fool wants to die with that monster then so be it!" Cobblepot shot back before calling the crowd "bring it down!"

The crowd began to fling their torches at the mansion, sending the building up in flames in mere minutes. Back in inside the building, Johnathan made his way up the stairs that lead to the second level. But just as he reached the top of the stairs, Allister surprised with a war cry and swipe across Wayne's cheek with a switchblade. The ambush caused Johnathan to lose his footing and tumbled down to the bottom of the stairs. He fought through the pain his leg as he forced himself back up as Allister charged down the stairs with murder in his eyes.

The madman came at him with another swing of his knife. Luckily, the head of the Wayne family managed to evade the blade a delivered a powerful punch into Allister's jaw, knocking him back. But he quickly recoiled and lunged at him once more with his knife at the ready, this time jamming it into his opponent's shoulder, making Johnathan shout in pain before shoving him off his person.

"Dammit man I'm trying save you!" he shouted before gritting his teeth to yank the knife out of his teeth

"But I've already been saved" Allister said before leaping at him yet again "Let me show you true salvation!"

During their fight, the fires begun to consume the mansion, burning away at the structure at alarming rate. Johnathan had been too caught up to save Allister that he completely about the mob setting the mansion aflame. As the fire continued to grow and rage around them, Johnathan and Allister to battle one another in a life or death fight. Allister knocked his enemy down to the floor with a strong jab to the stomach. He attempted to stomp on the man's neck, but John kicked him the away before he could.

Just as Allister tried to make an attack, a chuck of burning wood fell from the ceiling and on top of him, breaking his back upon impact. The pain from the fight and heat and smoke around Johnathan began to make him feel dizzy, but he fought through the agony he felt and tried to make his way to Allister to save him. suddenly, more of the ceiling fell from above, blocking John's path to Allister. It was at that moment that he had to make a painful decision, one that he would regret until his dying day.

Fighting through the flames and smoke that surrounded him as he raced toward the one of the windows. As he did, he heard the gargled, dying voice of Allister Pines through the roar of the flames.

"My family will one day return to Gotham, Wayne!" he warned "and when they do, they will destroy your family! Do you hear me?! The Pines will have their revenge!"

With all his strength, Johnathan jumped through the window and back outside were the mob was cheering at the sight of Pines Manor being engulfed in flames, some of the members of the mob noticed Johnathan making his escape and rushed to his aide. After being pulled away from the fire, the head of the Wayne family could only look at the sight before him as Allister's final words to him repeated in his mind.

As the fire rose higher into the sky as the mansion fell in on itself from the flames, Johnathan noticed something flying over the wreckage of the building as if it was a bad omen.

It was a bat…..


	2. The Past is a Wilderness of Horror

Chapter One: The Past is a Wilderness of Horror

 _ **Gravity Falls, eleven years ago**_

The first thing Wendy heard from her bedroom was shouting from the living room. This wasn't the first time she had heard her parents arguing, but it was usually done in their bedroom in order to keep it away from their children. However, this time was different, the young was almost certain that there were other voices in the room alongside her mother and farther. Apart of her told her to just stay out of it and just go to sleep, but the young girl's curiosity got the better of her. She pulled herself out of bed and made her way over to the door where she then slowly opened the door by just a crack, giving her enough room to at least peak out the door.

There in the living room was her parents shouting at one another, but there were also three other men in the room with them as well. The men were wearing white coats with black gloves and boots. The one stranger that stuck out to the little girl the most was a tall, bald man with a long beard and had on a pair of thin glasses with dark purple lenses. Just looking at the man sent a cold chill of fear run down Wendy's spine.

"How could you do this to me, Dan?!" her mother demanded "How could you do you this to our family?!"

"Don't turn this around on me, Heather!" Dan shot back "All this time we've been together and you've been lying to me this whole time!"

"I did it to protect you and the kids from the truth!" she defended before begging "Please Dan, you can't send me back to Gotham—not with these men! Please! For our children's sake!"

"I'm sorry Heather, but I can't" Dan refused sadly "Professor Strange has assured me that you'll well treated during your time there. And when they give you the ok, then maybe I'll consider letting you see the kids again"

"You are not taking me away from my children!" Heather declared

"I'm sorry Mrs. Corduroy, but you do not have a say in the matter" the man known as Strange informed before looking at the other men "Gentlemen"

Wendy watched in horror as the two other men in white coats took hold of her mother and began to drag out the door, all the while she begged and screamed at her farther and the men around her to let her go. The little girl's mind was in total disarray, why these men taking her mother away? Why was her dad just letting them? her confusion and fear reached a breaking point, forcing her to burst from her room and race toward her mother with tears flowing from her eyes.

"Momma! Momma!" She called out to her in hysterics

"Wendy!" her mother called back as she pull out of the men's grasp and reach her daughter

The little girl was almost close enough to touch her mother's hand, but just as they were about to touch one another hands, her farther snatched her up and pulled her away from her mother.

"Let me hold her, Daniel! For god's sake let me hold my baby!" Heather pleaded as he wept

Dan said nothing as he turned his head away his wife, all the while his daughter tried to free himself from his grasp. The two men finally managed to drag Heather out the door before slamming it shut behind them, cutting Wendy from her now lost parent forever.

"Why those men taking momma away, daddy?" she demanded as she continued to cry

Before the lumberjack could answer his child, Professor Strange walked up to her and spoke for him.

"Your mother is very sick, my dear" he explained in a deep voice "My men and I are taking her to a place where she can get proper treatment"

"You can't take my momma!" Wendy shouted

"It's ok honey, she'll come back when she feels better" her dad assured her in a calming voice before kissing her forehead "I promise"

As Dan continued try to settle down his daughter, Strange took that as his cue to leave. Just as the physicist opened the door, Wendy finally forced herself free from her father's hold and quickly ran toward the door to reach her mother, but just as she flung it open a blast of bright, white light engulfed her and everything else around her.

* * *

Wendy's eyes slowly opened, pulling her away from her dreams and back into reality. She didn't even realize that she had fallen asleep until coming back from that dream. That dream of the last time she ever saw mother in particular had been replaying in her mind in recent weeks, and it was beginning to unsettle the teen. The memory of her mother being dragged away out of their home while she tried desperately to reach her had been haunting her thoughts and she had no idea as to why now these memoirs had been plaguing her every time she slept.

"Hey" a voice asked "are you ok, Wendy?"

Wendy snapped back into the world around her as she remembered where she was before she dozed off. She was out in the local park, sitting under a tree with the boy she loved, Mason 'Dipper' Pines. The two had been on a date before she fell asleep. While this was technically their third date as a couple, the two had been together since the previous summer. After the events of the Weirdmaggedon and the following departure of the Pines twins, the redhead had some time to think about where she and the young boy stood in terms of their friendship.

However, after giving it some serious thought, she found herself not wanting a friendship with Dipper, but an actual relationship with him. He was kind, considerate and everything she wanted in the perfect guy. Despite saying she was too old for him, Wendy retracted her statement by deciding that if the boy could stop the apocalypse, then his age could be overlooked—besides, it was only a three gap, it wasn't as bad as she first thought.

When the two finally got into a relationship, Mason tried his hardest to contain his joy, making the teenager almost die laughing at the sight of her new boyfriend finally lose it and begin to jump in joy. For the following months, the two had kept a strong long-distance relationship, chatting the hours away about anything and everything that came to them, he even live-chated Wendy for twenty-four hours straight on her sixteenth birthday. When the twins finally returned to Gravity Falls, the first thing the boy did was take his long-distance girlfriend by the hand and pull her into a deep kiss that lasted a full minute.

Since Mason and Mabel had come back to the small Oregon town, they had mostly been acting as peacekeepers among the paranormal beings in Gravity Falls. After the hell Bill Cipher had unleashed unto the world, the vast majority of the creatures that lived side by side with the townspeople managed to mostly coexist in peace, however there was always a few land disputes between the different supernatural factions in the forest that the two teens had to sort out in order to keep the peace.

"I... I'm fine" Wendy replied, trying as she to shake off the dream as she did "Sorry for falling asleep on you like that"

"It's ok" Dipper assured her with a grin before mentioning "But you were talking in your sleep"

"I was?" the redhead mused "what was I saying?"

"You kept saying momma" her lover answered "was it something about your mom?"

The subject of Wendy's mother was a touchy one. During one of their long-distance relationship conversations, Dipper had asked about her mom and what had happened to her, only to have his girlfriend quickly change the subject to something else. The Pines boy had wanted to know more about the rest of the Corduroy family, but decided not to press any further and wanted to wait until his girlfriend was ready to talk about it in her own time since it was quite clear that it wasn't something that Wendy liked to bring up.

"It's nothing" she denied with a shake of her head "it was just a dream"

It was then that Mason gently took her hand into his own and gave her a warm smile that melted her heart.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" he told her gently "I just want you to know that I'm here for you when you do"

With just a smile, Wendy could feel her inner defenses falter. Dipper may be neurotic and paranoid at times, but at his core he was a kind and caring person at heart. It's what she loved the most about Mason.

"My mom was taken away when I was five" she finally said "these guys in white coats said she was sick and they were taking her somewhere to get better. It wasn't till I was a little older that I understand that she was mentally ill"

Mason's eyes widen in surprise upon hearing that. He wasn't expecting that to be the reason why his girlfriend wouldn't talk about her mother.

"My mom was sent back to Gotham to help psychiatric treatment" Wendy continued

"Wait, back up—your moms from Gotham?" Mason interrupted

"Yeah, she came to Gravity Falls when she was nineteen after her parents died" the ginger explained "she met my dad shortly after and they were married a year later"

Gotham City always fascinated Mason. It was a city that was steeped in mystery and secrets and wrapped in around in an eternal enigma. While he did have a lot of interest in the city, he knew that it was also a city filled with danger at almost every corner. It was filled with the most deranged minds on the planet—one could even make the argument that Gotham's protector, Batman, was just as mad as the villains he did battle with. It was then that Mason thought about what Wendy said about her mom going back to Gotham and about how she was getting treatment. Unfortunately, there only one place in all of Gotham that tried to aid the mentally ill.

"My mom was sent to Arkam" Wendy said somberly, naming that the place that Mason dreaded to say out loud

Arkam Asylum was described by most as a type of hell on earth. A place where Gotham's most psychotic criminals were sent to in order to find some form of treatment, but really it was to try to contain their madness and keep them locked away from the world forever, which they failed at every attempt to hold the monsters they tried to keep inside of facility. The thought of Wendy's estranged parent being locked up alongside such demented souls such as Two-Face, The Riddler and the most notorious inmate of the asylum, The Joker, made Dipper's skin crawl.

"Did she ever get out?" he asked cautiously, not wanting to upset her

"She did, about three years later though" his lover answered in a sharp tone as the thoughts came back to her "But according to my dad however, once she was finally cured, she ditched us"

As she spoke, hot tears of sadness and anger began to fall from the teen's eyes and run down her cheeks.

"She decided that her family was driving her crazy and wanted to cut us out completely" the redhead furthered as the anger and sadness rose higher inside of her "I wrote to her almost every week while she was being kept inside that nuthouse, telling her how I was and asking when she was going to come home, but I guess that I just didn't matter to her after all!"

With all her strength and rage, she let out a furious cry before whirling around and punched the tree she was leaning against, breaking off some the bark with her strike. Wendy couldn't take anymore, she let everything out. She began to cry rivers of tears at everything that had been building up inside of her about her mother. As she continued to cry, she felt a hand gently touch on her shoulder. She turned to see the boy she loved looking at her with concern and sadness in his eyes. Wendy fell into Dipper's arms and wept into his shoulder, all the while he held her tenderly in a warm embrace.

"Uh…" came a familiar voice "Is this is a good time?"

The two lovers turned to see Mason's sister, Mabel, standing before them with her pet pig, Waddles, at her side. The sweater wearing girl looked at the couple with an expression of confusion on her face, clearly indicating that she had seen the ginger crying. Wendy quickly dried her eyes and straightened herself out before speaking to her young friend.

"Is everything ok, Wendy?" she inquired

"Y-yeah…" the older girl lied as she tried to compose herself "What's up?"

Mabel was about to say something in regards to Wendy's tears, but a quick look from her brother made her retract her words and instead brought up the real reason she was here.

"You guys need to come back to the Mystery Shack" the hyperactive girl said "There's something you gotta see"

* * *

After last summer's end, Stan and Ford had traveled the world in search of other paranormal occurrences, but when they heard that their grand-niece and nephew were returning to Gravity Falls, the two brothers made their way back to the strange little town to be with them for the summer. During their time away, Stan had left his right hand man, Soos, in charge of the Mystery Shack in his absence. In that time, Soos's girlfriend, Melody, and his grandmother had moved into the gift shop. Despite having Melody around to help with the shop, Soos kept Wendy employed, only now she wouldn't have as many tasked she would have to do on her own like she had when Stan ran the building.

The one problem to this new arrangement was that the twins didn't have a room of their own in the Mystery Shack anymore, due to the fact that Soos's grandmother had taken up residence in what was once their shared room—and she wasn't going to give it up to anyone. Fortunately for Dipper and Mabel, they were given a place to stay. The prospector turned millionaire, Mcguket, had turned the lower levels of the mansion he had bought from the Northwest family into a giant laboratory. However, the upper levels where still livable, and Stan and Ford were living there as well, so they were all closer to one another then before. Granted, the twins, as well as Stan, were sometimes kept wide awake by the experiments Ford and Mcguket would run into the long hours of the night, but it was a small price to pay to be with their family.

Once Dipper, Mabel and Wendy entered the Mystery Shack, where they not only found Soos, Stan and Ford standing together, but also Robbie, Pacifica and Gideon as alongside them well. While in the previous summer the trio were all antagonists to the Pines family, after their final war with Bill Cipher, they had reached a sort friendship with one another. Robbie, being Wendy's ex-boyfriend, had given the couple their space, mostly due to him having Tambry as his new girlfriend. While the goth teen and Dipper weren't as aggressive toward one another as they were in the past, they still carried some animosity between them, leaving their respective girlfriends to play peacemakers between them more often than not.

As for Pacifica, her family had been slowly rising from the colossal mistake her farther had made by attempting to ally himself with Bill. They had been living in a much smaller home on the outskirts of town and were treated as something of a pariah around Gravity Falls. Fortunately for the heiress, her former rival, Mabel, was a forgiving soul and became instant friends with the blonde as she always intended it to be. However, Dipper had noticed that Pacifica enjoyed his sibling's company as more than just a friend and had sense that perhaps there was more to Pacifica's friendship with Mabel then she was letting on.

Finally, there was Gideon, the former plight upon the Pines family. After aiding in the final battle with Bill, the young boy had begun to form a social life with the townspeople he once held mental supremacy over. Much like Robbie and Mason, Stan and Gideon were not quite friends just yet, but they had had to something of truce between them.

Currently, the Pines brothers and their respective friends and allies were as huddled around the gift shop's check-out table, all collectively looking at something of clear interest for all of them. once Dipper, his sister and his girlfriend had joined they huddle, the boy found what was the object of everyone's attention: a small stack of scarlet envelopes, each with a different name of every person in the room's name written on them.

"We found these on the Shack's doorstep this morning" Ford explained "Gideon, Robbie and Pacifica found their envelopes on their doorsteps the same time as well"

"Has anyone opened one yet?" Mason asked

"Kid, I've learned from the Anthrax scare that you don't open weird envelopes" Stan said "You let someone else open it first"

"That's a good point" his grand-nephew agreed before looking over to Robbie "You first"

Robbie's response to that came in the form of a grimace and a middle finger.

"Well we're not going to find out what's inside until we open one" Wendy pointed out

"Hey if your volunteering, then be my guest!" the former Mr. Mystery offered

The Lumberjack's daughter looked at the envelope that was addressed to her as tentatively reached out and picked it up. Everyone took an instinctive step back as the redhead slowly opened her envelope. Much to the relief of the group, the envelope didn't explode or release some sort of deadly toxin into the room—though if it did then they wouldn't have been able to see it regardless. What was inside it however, was a letter written in red ink, as well as a plane ticket. Everyone quickly crowded around Wendy as she began to read the letter aloud.

It read as followed.

 _Dear Ms. Corduroy_

 _You may not be aware of this, but you and a selected few of others within the town of Gravity Falls are a part of a great destiny, one that has been kept from you all for far too long. Your respective families' origins do not begin in Gravity Falls, but in Gotham City, where they have been pushed aside and forgotten by those who claim they made the city what it is today. I invite you all to the city of your actual beginnings to see the truth of your families and reclaim the birthrights that have been stolen from you. If you are concerned about the price of travel and housing, do not worry, I have already paid for airline tickets which you will find with your envelope. I have also paid for rooms in the Gotham Plaza Hotel to accommodate you all during your stay in the city of your real roots. I look forward to meeting you all in person and showing you the glory that you have been denied for so long._

 _Your friend — H._

Following Wendy's example, the others took each of the envelops and opened them to find letter's and plane tickets for each of them. The letters were almost identical word for word to one another, the only difference between them was who each one was addressed to. While everyone else was reading over their letters, Wendy was in a state of suspicion. The letter at the end of the message made the gears in her mind begin to turns, there was only one person she knew that was from Gotham and had a name that started with the letter 'H', she just couldn't believe that after all this time this person was finally reaching out to her, but what didn't make sense to her was how that person knew about her friends during her long absence.

"Hmmm, my scam-senses are tingling" Stan mentioned as he looked over the letter

"Maybe, but if it was, why only send letters to just the ten of us and not everyone in town?" his twin brother reasoned "and why only give letters to just Robbie, Pacifica and Gideon instead of the rest their families? And furthermore, if this was some sort of scam, then why spend so much money on plane tickets for all of us?"

"Maybe their trying to sell us time shares, dude" Soos mentioned, to which Ford gave him a 'really?' look

"Time shares in Gotham?" his former boss scoffed "Soos, the reason you get a time share in Gotham is to get away from Gotham"

"And what's all this about our origins in Gotham?" Dipper commented before looking at his great-uncles "do we have some sort of connection to it?"

"I'm not quite sure" Stan admitted before getting an accusing look from his grand-niece and nephew "I'm telling you the truth! I swear!"

Mason and Mabel had more than enough reason to believe that their great-uncle wasn't telling them the whole truth, after all, he kept the existence of his twin brother who had been traversing the multiverse for over thirty years a secret.

"Look, the only thing I know is that the Pines family was chased outta Gotham centuries ago for some reason" he finally said "A lot of our family history is one big mystery!"

"As we're coming to understand" Dipper said as his sibling nodded in agreement before pointing to Gideon, Robbie and Pacifica "So I guess that means they have ties to Gotham as well?"

"Hey, this is news to us" Pacifica defended "I thought my whole family only lived in Gravity Falls"

"As did I" Gideon added on "I always assumed that the roots of the Gleeful family were solely in this town, but if there's a chance that if there's more to my family's past then I want to find out"

"feh, I don't" Robbie brushed off

"But I do" Wendy finally spoke up sharply "and unlike the rest of you, I know I have a connection to Gotham"

Apart from Mason, the entire group was in a state of shock by that sudden revelation. Before anyone could question her on that statement, she continued.

"My mother was originally from Gotham before she moved here" she explained "But she taken back there by staff members of Arkam Asylum for mental treatment when I was still young"

Everyone was in total awe by Wendy's words, aside from her boyfriend just moments ago, she had never shared anything about her mother with anyone before.

"But she was cured three later and divorced my dad and left us" she furthered on, her voice cracking from the pain of talking about this all over again "But I think this her trying to get in contact"

"How can you be sure?" Ford questioned

"Because my mother's name is Heather" she answered "and our host has an 'H' in their name"

"I hate to burst your bubble kid, but there's a lot of people who have an H in their names" Stan reasoned

"And besides, she's been away from Gravity Falls for years, how could she know about any of us, or our history for that matter?" his twin brother added "I'm sorry to say this, but I think you're getting your hopes for nothing"

Wendy felt her whole world being crush with just a few mere words. She looked to her lover for his aide, but he only looked somberly turned his head downward in shame, silently telling her that he agreed with his great-uncles. Seeing that she was on her own on this one, the redheads pain turned to rage once more.

"Fine! Fuck you all!" she declared "If you won't believe me then I'll go to Gotham and find the truth myself!"

As she began to storm toward the door, her former boss's voice called to her.

"Now hold on, Wendy" he began "just because we don't think it's your mother who sent these letters, doesn't mean we ain't going Gotham"

The teenager turned around to face the group once again when she heard that. Everyone also turned their attention toward Stan and his brother as well, they to, were taken aback by this statement.

"Both Stan and I want to know who sent these letters and our connection to Gotham City" Ford continued before looking at Dipper and Mabel "and I'm sure you two do as well"

"Heck yeah we do!" Mabel nearly exclaimed

"But what about our parents?" Dipper brought up "I doubt they'd support the idea of us going to one of the most dangerous cities in the world"

"True, but what they don't know won't hurt them" Stan offered, making his grand-nephew roll his eyes at his train of logic "Besides, if you kids can take on a reality warping demon, then all those freaks in that godforsaken city should be a snap"

"What about the rest of you?" Ford asked the others "do you want to join us?"

"I doubt my parents will say anything about me going" Pacifica said

"My parents ain't gonna care either" Robbie answered "I just wanna get outta this stupid town"

"I want to find out if there's any truth to this person's claims about my family's history" Gideon replied

"Melody can watch the shop while I'm gone" Soos spoke up "getting a selfie with Batman, is like, on my bucket list, dude"

"What about you, Wendy?" Mason inquired "You think your dad will let you go to Gotham?"

"I don't care if he does either way" his girlfriend informed in a sharp tone "weather he says yes or no, I'm going to Gotham!"

With that, she made her way out the door before anyone could stop her to ask where she was going, however, they did have a pretty good idea where she was headed and did not want to be caught in the crossfire that was to come.

"Then I guess it's decided then" Ford affirmed "I suggest that you all go home and get packed for the trip and get plenty of rest. We'll leave first thing in the morning"

Everyone gave a collective nod in agreement. Gideon, Robbie and Pacifica then made their exit from the Mystery Shack in order to get ready for the coming trip. As they left, Mabel picked up her pig and smiled.

"Did you hear that, Waddles? We're going to a city full of crazy people!" she happily told the swine, to which it oinked in response

* * *

Wendy knew that her farther was off today, so she marched straight home so that she could face him. She had a pretty good sense of how of the conversation that was to come, but she was going to get some straight answers out of him one way or another. When Wendy reached her home, she threw opened the front door to find her farther and her three younger brothers sitting on the sofa as they watched some action film together. The slamming of the door and the glare in her eye clearly told the rest of her family that the teen was not happy.

"You, leave" she ordered her brothers before looking at her dad "you, stay"

Wendy's siblings quickly made a B-line to their bedrooms, know that the upcoming fight between their elder sister and their farther wasn't going to be pretty. Dan kept a stern expression as he crossed his arms across his chest as his daughter stood before him with a visage of fury on her face.

"I'm going to wait to see what your upset about before I punish you for talking to me like that" he began in a sharp tone

"What happened really to mom?" Wendy demanded "and don't lie to me"

"Why are you asking me that?" he asked "you know what happened to your mom"

"I'm starting to think that I don't" his daughter answered harshly before pulling out the letter "this was sent to me from Gotham City today. It said I had ties to the city, and the person who wrote it said their name was 'H'—H like Heather, dad!"

She thrust the letter in the lumberjack's face for him to see for himself. At first it appeared as though her farther was going to just over look it, but once he focused on the writing, his jaw dropped in awe.

"This...this is your mother's handwriting!" he said as he took the letter to look at it closely before speaking under his breath "But Strange told me she wouldn't be allowed to write to us"

"What?" the teen questioned harshly

Knowing that he couldn't talk his way out this, Dan decided to come clean to his daughter.

"Look, before I tell you this…you have to understand that I did this to protect from the truth" he began with a tone that felt alien to him: shame

Wendy could almost feel her heart fall into her the pit of her stomach before he said anything. She was afraid of that this happen and part of her wanted to tell him not to tell her, but she fought off the warning voice in her head and listened to the secret her farther had kept from her.

"Your mom had a very…complicated past" the woodcutter started off "the real reason she left Gotham wasn't just because her parents died in a car accident, but also because she escaped Arkam Asylum"

Wendy wasn't prepared for that. Of the very few memories she had of her mother, she seemed so normal, to hear that she was an escaped mental patient broke her heart, and that wasn't the end of her father's explanation.

"When her doctor, Hugo Strange, contacted me and told me of your mom's past, I couldn't believe it at first…but it was all true" he continued "he told me that she was planning on murdering Bruce Wayne, claiming it was out of revenge for her family"

Another revelation that Wendy wasn't ready for. Bruce Wayne was not only the richest man in Gotham, but one of the richest men on the planet. It made the ginger's mid race with a single question: why would her mother want to kill one of the most important men in the world?

"But you said she was released three years after she was sent back and ditched us" Wendy questioned before surmising "or were lying about that?"

Dan hung his low in shame, giving her his answer. The rage and confusion that was once again building up inside her had reached its tipping point.

"She didn't divorce you, you divorced her!" she gathered "you abandoned her! my mother! Your own wife!"

"She lost her mind, Wendy!" her farther exclaimed "she was to dangerous to be let out of Arkam!"

"So you made up some bullshit story that she just left us to start a new life?!" she accused

"What was I supposed to tell you?!" her farther shouted back as he shot up "that your mother was a psychopath?!"

"It would've been better then telling me that she abandoned me!" Wendy scremed with tears in her eyes "I've spent the last eleven fucking years thinking that my mom hated me, all because you didn't have the balls to tell me—tell all of us that our mom was in an asylum!"

Normally, when someone spoke to Dan like that, they would've already flying through a wall by now. But his daughter's words cut him deeper than any knife ever could. He sat back down on the sofa in defeat. Wendy was right, he was too afraid to admit to the world that his wife was mentally ill rather, and rather than try to help her, he only left her to the wolves.

"Stan, Dipper and the others are going to Gotham to figure this out" she told him "I'm going to find mom and you're not going to stop me"

With that, she stormed into her room, gathered several changes of clothes and others necessities into a duffle bag before leaving her room without as so much as a goodbye to her farther and her brother. Dan said nothing to his daughter to try and stop her, his guilt was too overwhelming for him to bear. He could only hope and pray that Wendy could find some closer.

* * *

 _ **Arkam Asylum, six months ago**_

It was finished….

Months, even years, of planning, scheming and backstabbing had all lead Heather Maddix to this moment. Eleven years of being poked and prodding by the so-called doctors of Arkam Asylum were worth it for what she was going to soon accomplish. It almost felt like a dream that she had dreamt ever since she was a little girl was finally becoming a reality. The only regret that she had was that her children, especially her daughter, where not by here by her side. But if everything played out the way it should, then her estranged child would bask in all she had done for her and the five forsaken families of Gotham, and vengeance would forever be theirs.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice asked Heather from the darkness of her cell

Heather looked at the drawing that had been etched into the wall in all of its haunting glory. It sent chills down her spine, but also filled her with a sort of pride above it all.

"Is everything set?" she asked her guest as she kept her eyes locked on the drawing

"Yes" the voice answered "the letters are safe and will be sent when the time is right"

"Then I guess there's only thing left to do" she surmised

She kneeled before the drawing and closed her eyes as her guest drew their scythe and raised high into the high. With one quick strike, Heather Maddix fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. The figure looked down at the body in indifference before stepping away from the fresh corpse, there was so much work to do.


	3. The Omen

Chapter Two: The Omen

"Are you certain you wish to do this, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked as the two stood before a closed door "You could leave now and no one would think the less of you"

"No Alfred, this what I was trained for" the millionaire replied as he gathered his composer "I'm ready"

Bruce Wayne had been preparing for this moment for nearly three weeks. He had mentally training himself for what was on the other side of the doors, knowing that it would be one of the most difficult things he would do in his life. He had faced madness in its rawest form and would honestly prefer that to what was to come. With a deep breath, he centered his character and put on his mask before giving a nod to his butler and friend to open the door, allowing him to walk into the dangerous territory of all: the normal world.

Tonight was the annual policeman's ball and this year it was being held at Gotham Civic Center. While the last of the Wayne's enjoyed giving his full support to GCPD as both Bruce Wayne and Batman, he never truly enjoyed these types of social events. It always made him feel uneasy to be around crowds of people, to put on this disguise of Bruce Wayne and be among the crowds of rich solicits that he was a part of since his birth. Yet despite being born into their ranks, Bruce never felt as though he belonged among them. Where he belonged was on the streets of Gotham City, watching from the shadows and protecting those who could not defend themselves from the monsters this city seemed to endlessly create. Batman may not be able to stalk the rooftops of Gotham tonight due to the obligations of Bruce Wayne, Tim donned his costume to take his place for the time being with Barbara watching over him as Oracle.

Bruce smiled and laughed among the attendees of the ball, shaking hands and telling jokes with the wealthy and the police officers who had also attended tonight's charity event. Even though he made small talk with other aristocratic members of the party, Bruce made sure that he made time to speak with the officers and detectives who were also present at the ball, letting them how important they were to the city that they collectively held so dear. Bruce knew that most of the cops on the GCPD thought of the millionaire as nothing more than a rich boy looking for publicity, he merely shrugged off the behind the back insults toward him, knowing that they needed him more than they would ever know.

"Hell of a party as always, Bruce" came a familiar voice through the crowd

The secret vigilante turned to see the police commissioner, Jim Gordon, approach him. Much like the other cops, Gordon didn't have the highest opinion of Bruce Wayne on a personal level, but he was at least respectable toward him and appreciated the charity balls he threw for the department. What he didn't know was that the man he mocked in his private hours was secretly is greatest ally and friend in the never-ending war against the crime and madness that forever plagued the city they both swore to protect.

"I'm glad you could make it, commissioner" Bruce politely greeted with a handshake "I'm surprised you even came. You normally don't attend these sort of parties"

"You can thank the mayor for that" Jim replied glumly "He thought it best that the police commissioner should be present for this thing rather than doing his job"

The commissioner stopped himself before he said anything that he would regret, or worse, cost him his job. Bruce didn't blame his friend for being upset with the mayor, aside from the once great Harvey Dent, the politicians in Gotham had only one interest: themselves. Bruce had been often asked by the media if he ever wanted to run for mayor or even governor, to which he denied. He could never say it out loud, but Batman was needed on the streets of Gotham and not behind some desk fighting with bureaucrats just to pass a single bill. After quickly correcting himself, Gordon spoke once more.

"Eh, forget a said that" Jim asked

"Blame it on the champagne" Bruce joked with a small laugh to lighten his friend's spirits "I do it all the time"

"Before this night's over I might have to" Jim agreed in almost despondent voice before hearing someone calling him "Excuse me Bruce"

Just as Jim parted ways with the playboy, a voice over the intercom spoke to the crowd.

"It looks like our guest of honor, Bruce Wayne, has finally entered the people" a woman's voice informed the crowd "Let's get him up on stage to say a few words"

The crowd creed words of encouragement to Bruce, finally getting him to get up on stage and speak to the rest of the party goers.

"Thank, thank you everyone" he began as he stood in front of the podium "I just want to say that out of all the charity events I'm a part of, this is by far one of my favorite. With your support, the Gotham City Police Department can have the resources they need to better protect our streets. It's thanks to the brave men and women in the GCDP that we can sleep a little easier at night"

"Don't forget about Batman!" one of the cops that had a little too much to drink called out "He makes our job a lot easier!"

Several members of the police force cheered at that sentiment. Bruce could even see Jim nodding in agreement to that as well. the secret hero knew better then to try to deny Batman's aid to the police department, but they were right, had not been for him, they GCPD would still be a cesspool of corruption. Feeling that he had said enough, Bruce backed away from podium and allowed the female announcer to take over once again.

"Another round of applause for Mr. Wayne" she said to the audience to which they did "and now for your entertainment, here is the man who some call the 'voice of Gotham', Gus Gunderson!"

The woman stepped off the stage as the crowd cheered once more. Gus Gunderson was a break out singer who had been discovered on a televised talent show several months ago, Bruce never paid much attention to the man's work, but he figured now would be as good as any to hear what the man could sing. Besides, he must've been good if he had Alfred keep voting for him every week. The spotlight shined on the curtain on the center stage before music began to play.

"You say…the price of my love is not a price you're not willing to pay" a voice sang on the other side of the closed curtain "You cry in your tea which hurl in the sea as you see me go by"

Even though he couldn't see the singer's face, Bruce felt as though the man's voice sounded awfully. Despite the rising dread in the bottom of his gut, he remained calm and waited to see what would happen next.

"Why so sad? Remember we made an arrangement when you went away" 'Gus' continued to sing "Now you're making me mad. Remember, despite our estrangement, I'm your man"

"Sir, I think something may be amiss" his loyal butler whispered to him "That doesn't sound like Mr. Gunderson at all"

Now the billionaire had a justifiably reason to feel tense.

"You'll be back, soon you'll see, you'll remember that you belong to me" the song went on "you'll be back, time will tell. You'll remember that I served you well. oceans rise, empires, we have seen each other through it all. And when push comes to shove…"

It was all too late that the gears in Bruce's head pieced together the all too familiar voice that was singing. He was so wrapped up with keeping up appearances that he didn't think of it sooner. There was only one person in the world who had a voice like that, it filled his heart with dread.

" _God no…_ " he thought to himself " _Not HIM!_ "

As if on cue to confirm the hero's fears, the curtain was thrown open to reveal to the horror of Bruce and everyone else in the room. The singer was not Gus Gunderson, but it was another ionic figure in Gotham City. He was known as the ginning gargoyle, the master of madmen and the clown prince of crime, but above all else, he was known and feared by one name.

The Joker.

"I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!" the villain sang out "dat dat dat di! Dat dat dat dat diiiiiiHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The crowd where instantly thrown into a state of panic. During the confusion, Bruce took this opportunity to sneak out of the building and quickly make his way back to his limo, where is his spare costume was stashed away. Back with the Joker, he drew a revolver from his vest and fired off a bullet into the air to get everyone's attention. The crowd, still terrified, quickly quieted down out of fear of what the madman would do if they didn't.

"Good Evening, ladies and gents" he greeted with his infamous grin "I'm sorry to say Gus Gunderson couldn't make it to this wonderful party. You see, he caught a really bad case of bullet-to-the-headities. So, I took it upon myself to be his understudy for tonight"

"What do you want, Joker?" Gordon demanded

"That's the thing Jimmy-boy, it's not what I'm after, but more of a who" Joker replied before asking the crowd "Where is Bruce Wayne?"

Everyone began to look around for the billionaire whereabouts, but he was nowhere to be seen. Gordon had at first thought that Joker only wanted Bruce to hold him for ransom, but then again, in his past experiences with the clown prince of crime, the police commissioner had learned to expect the unexpected. If the Joker if was insane to crash a police ball, then that could only mean that he had something already planned. Suddenly, a pair of on-duty police officers jumped on stage with their weapons drawn and pointed at the criminal before Gordon could stop them.

"Drop the weapon and put your hands up, Joker!" one of the officers ordered

"What? Like this?" the psychotic clown asked innocently as he put his gun down and raised his hands up

The two officers cautiously approached him with their weapons aimed at him. In a flash, the Joker grabbed one of the officers by the wrist. In the that moment of shock, the officer instinctively pulled the trigger on his gun, but the psychotic clown moved the cop's hand away from his chest at the last second, causing him to hit his partner by mistake and kill him instantly. The Joker then snatched up his revolver and pointed between the officer's eyes. He smiled wickedly before pulling the trigger, sending the poor man's blood, bone and brain matter flying all over the already frighten crowd. The audience screaming in horror at the deaths they had just witnessed while the Joker kicked the two fresh corpses off the stage before speaking again.

"Now, where was I?" he asked himself simply, as if he had only been interrupted during a conversation "Oh yes, now I remember! I was asking where ol' Brucie was! So, where is the little spoiled punk?"

"Nowhere you'll find him, Joker!" a voice proclaimed

Just as those words were spoken, a huge shadow covered the spotlight in the form of a huge bat. The joker, as well as his captive audience, looked up to see a tall, muscular figure who was covered in shadows. Some of the onlookers smiled and cheered while others gasped in both armament and horror. The clown price of crime only smiled at the sight of the newcomer, knowing that _**he**_ had finally arrived.

The caped crusader.

The dark knight.

Batman.

The defender of Gotham swooped down from the stage lights and drive-kicked his nemesis in the stomach, sending the psychotic clown flying backwards. The Joker attempted to grab his gun, but Batman kicked it away before snatching the clown by the throat and hoisting him up to his eye level. Before the dark knight could interrogate his enemy, the Joker headbutted him, causing him to let go if the villain. Joker then drew a switchblade from his vest and brought it down on his enemy, however, Batman managed to reach up and block the madman's weapon by grabbing his wrist and giving it a quick twist, forcing the blade out of his hand.

"What's your game this time, Joker?" Batman demanded, giving the psychopath's arm a quick twist to get the point across

"You got it all wrong batsy, for once I'm just the opening act" the Joker admitted with a mad giggle "the main entertainer's a real killer!"

Just as the caped crusader was about to ask what he meant by that, the front doors to the civic center where thrown open. A cloud of thick, red smoke began to spill into the room, making several people cough and gag from inhaling the foul-smelling cloud. As the red smoke continued to roll into the room, a figure strode through the red cloud, catching everyone's attention. The stranger was a tall figure who was dressed in a scarlet hooded rob and had on metal boots and gauntlets. The robed figure wore a black, featureless mask—save for a pair of red lenses over the eyeholes. But the biggest draw to the hooded figure wasn't their attire, but the huge scythe they had in their hand. Batman had never encounter this person, but had a feeling that by the end of the night that would change.

The crowd quickly parted out of the faceless figure's path as he or she made their way toward the stage, as if this person some bastardized version of Moses and they were the red sea. While everyone, including Batman, was focused on this newcomer, the Joker took this opportunity to use his joy-buzzer in his free hand to shock his arch-enemy, making him release the grinning gargoyle in the process. while the caped crusader reeled back in pain, the Joker kicked him to the ground, he then held Batman down by firmly planting one foot on his chest. By this time, the Joker apparent ally stepped onto the stage before addressing the audience.

"Hear me Gotham. I am the Omen" the hooded figure announced in a modified voice through his mask "I seek to undo a great injustice that was done centuries ago. Bring me Bruce Wayne so that I may show him his day of reckoning!"

"What has Wayne ever done to you?" Batman questioned before Joker put pressure on his chest with his foot

"It's what his family did to mine and the other forgotten families of Gotham!" the Omen answered "The Pines, the Gleeful's, the Valentino's, the Northwest's the Ramirez's and the Maddix's were cast out of the city by your ancestors and the others who called themselves the founders of Gotham! I am the embodiment of their retribution, Batman! I am their vengeance!"

Having heard enough, the dark knight had played opossum long enough and decided now was the time to act. While the Joker was paying attention to his new partner, the caped crusader slowly reached into one of the pouches of his belt and drew a smoke pellet. With perfect precision, he flicked the pellet into his adversaries' face, exploded on contact. As the villain coughing and reeling from the suddenly smoke bomb, his rival threw him off his person with a kick to the gut, allowing the masked hero to jump back to his feet and faced off with the Omen.

"I bare no grudge against you, Batman" the masked madman offered "I only seek justice like you do"

"What your after isn't any justice I've heard of!" Batman answered before leaping the unknown villain "surrender, before this gets ugly"

"So be it" the Omen growled "You shall face judgment as those who I sworn to slay!"

The Omen swung his scythe at the vigilante, forcing him back. The cloaked villain kept the dark knight at bay with his weapon, that was until Batman managed to duck under one swing and get in close enough to deliver a strong punch across the villain's face each was then followed by a powerful kick to the torso. By this time, the Joker had gotten over the surprise smoke attack and pulled out another, much larger, knife from his back pocket and lunged at his longtime adversary. Seeing the Joker coming at him, he threw batarang at the clown prince of crime's leg in an attempt to trip him up, to which he dodged.

Seizing the chance to attack, the Omen took another swing of his scythe. This time when Batman dodged, he moved to late and allowed the scythe to cut into his suit and pierce into his side, making him give out a short cry in pain as he stumbled back, clutching his fresh wound as he did. Suddenly, the Joker came from behind him and jabbed his knife into the dark knight's shoulder, causing his enemy to cry out in agony before punching him back. Batman gritted his teeth before he quickly yanked the blade out of his shoulder. Bruce fought through the agony that was starting to wrack his body and leapt once more at the pair and engaged in combat with them yet again.

As the fight continued to go in the Joker's and his new ally's favor, Gordon could no longer sit on the sidelines and let one of his friend's die in front of him, and judging by the look of several other officers, they shared his sentiment. After losing two officers to that psychopath, the police commissioner wanted to play it safe and allow Batman to handle the Joker on his own, but the inclusion of this new villain was not something that Jim nor Batman himself wasn't counting on. With a nod to a few other nearby officers, they collectively drew their weapons and rushed to the aide of Gotham's defender. Seeing the oncoming officers, both the Joker and the Omen knew they stood little chance against the combined forces of Batman and the police and decided it was time to make a speedy retreat.

"Exit, stage right" Joker said to his mysterious partner

The Omen nodded in agreement before reaching into his robe and pulling out a tiny red ball. The hooded villain threw down the ball to the ground, causing it to explode and release a cloud of red mist much like the one that followed the Omen entered with. But this cloud was different, when Batman, Gordon and the other police officers came into contact with the red cloud, their skin and eyes began to itch and burn. Acting quickly, Batman used his cape like a makeshift fan to clear away the red cloud. Thankfully, it appeared as though the red mist wasn't as potent as Joker's laughing gas and the group began to bounce back as soon as the cloud was brush away. However, as expected, the Joker and the Omen were nowhere to be found.

"They couldn't have go far" Gordon offered as he rubbed his eyes

"We both know that have, Jim" Batman replied sternly, clearly angry that two villains had escaped

"I'm just luck they didn't take Wayne with them" the commissioner mentioned "the rich boy ran off before the Joker knew he was missing. Good thing to, the mayor would've had my badge for breakfast if those lunatics ran off with one of his biggest supporters"

The dark knight said nothing in response to that.

"Thank you for your help, Jim" he said "To you and your men"

"I wish all of my men survived this" Jim replied solemnly as he looked at the bodies of the two officers the Joker had slain "Have you lost anyon— "

Just as Gordon turned to look at his friend, he was gone.

* * *

After departing from the now crashed party, Batman and his butler returned to the Batcave in order to begin an investigation on this newcomer to Gotham and his ties to Wayne family's past. Bruce sat in front of the bat-computer, searching through the archives of Gotham's history to find any trace of the five names that the Omen had mentioned. Bruce had even contacted Oracle for her assistance in his search for the truth. As Batman continued to scour the records, Alfred was busy patching up the wounds left from his latest battle. Thankfully, the suit's padding and armor took the brunt of the Omen's scythe, leaving a not so deep cut that only needed to be properly bandaged up. The same, however, could not be said for the knife wound the Joker had inflicted on his master. Alfred had to stitch up the gash in Bruce's shoulder, which was rather difficult to do since his patient wasn't exactly staying still at the moment.

"Master Bruce, if you wish to continue your nights galivanting around Gotham's underworld, then you'll let me patch this wound" the butler ordered in a dry tone of voice

"Sorry, Alfred" his employer half-apologized, not even making eye contact with him as he did "I've searched through much of Gotham's records, but I've found little about these 'forgotten families' the Omen spoke of. So far I've come up with little"

"But you have found something, I assume?" Alfred surmised

Bruce pulled up a file on the computer screen and showed his butler an image of a woman who appeared to be in her early to mid-thirties with dark red hair.

"This is Heather Maddix" the dark knight began "She was sent to Arkam at an early age by her parents and was placed under the care of Hugo Strange"

That sent a small shudder up the butler's spine. Hugo Strange was once the head of Arkam Asylum, but after Batman had discovered that he not only further warping the minds of the inmates he was charged with, but also mutating several of them into what he called his monster men. After the caped crusader discovered his plot and exposed him, Strange fled Gotham and went into the hiding somewhere in the middle east. At also made the professor dangerous was that he was one of the few members of the dark knight's rouges gallery that knew that knew that Bruce Wayne and Batman were one in the same.

"What caused her to be sent to Arkam in the first place?" Alfred inquired

"She was planning on assassinating Bruce Wayne" Batman answered

That took the butler aback. The Wayne family had their share of enemies due to their vast wealth and influence in both Gotham and the world at large, but to have a young woman be so obsessed with killing a man she had no real connection to outside some past event deeply disturbed Alfred. No doubt the young woman's stay in Arkam under Professor Strange's supervision must have furthered her descent into madness.

"After her parents died in a car accident, Heather escaped Arkam and fled Gotham to a small town in Oregon called Gravity Falls" Bruce continued "while there, she married man named Daniel Corduroy. They had four children together, one daughter and three sons, triplets. But after nearly eight years of hiding, Strange and his men found her and brought her back to Arkam"

"Then it appears as we have found our Omen" the butler put together

"Only one problem" the caped crusader corrected "Heather Maddix died in Arkam six months ago. The autopsy report labeled it as foul play from one of the other inmates"

"And with the monsters locked up that godforsaken place, it's hard to say who could've done it" Alfred furthered "assuming it even was one of the other inmates at all"

Batman nodded in agreement before speaking up again.

"There's more" he began "Oracle discovered that Heather's daughter, Wendy, was in the employment of Stan Pines"

"Pines, as in another one of the families the Omen claims to be fighting for" the butler said

"Not only that, but the descendants of every other family that the Omen spoke of live there as well" Batman added on "Stan Pines had a brother who went missing over thirty ago, but he does have relatives in California. His gran-niece and nephew visited him last summer and are with him this summer as well"

Just then, Batman and his faithful butler received an incoming call from Oracle on the bat-computer. Bruce allowed the message to come through and have the former Batgirl's face to appear on screen.

"Did you find something, Barbra?" the vigilante asked

"I did" she began "You know those decedents of the families the Omen was talking about? Well, you're not going to believe who just showed up at Gotham International Airport"


	4. City of sinners

Chapter Three: City of Sinners

"You've got to be shitting me" Stan said in awe at the sight before him

The flight to Gotham was a long and exhausting for the ten weary travelers, not to mention their long walk to the Gotham Plaza Hotel due to Stan getting into an argument with their taxi driver. But their spirits were quickly brightened by the sight of their hotel rooms which were all first-class suits. Even the ever-melancholy Robbie couldn't help but gasp at the sight of his room. Everyone, with the exception of the young twins, everyone had a room all to themselves. Robbie and Pacifica wasted no time into tossing their luggage onto the floor and locking their rooms before throwing themselves unto their beds and getting some much-needed sleep after the serious jet-slag they were suffering from.

Unlike the goth and the young heiress, the rest of the group were wideawake and fought through their exhaustion in order to come up with a proper plane. Despite all the enthusiasm, Mabel, however, was still a bit forlorn, due to the fact she was unable to bring Waddles along for the trip to Gotham. She left her beloved pig in the care of her two best friends, Candi and Grenda. Even though the young girl knew that her pet was safe, it still saddened her that she couldn't fully enjoy her vacation without him.

Wendy on the other hand, was more focused on her reason for coming to this city. She made it quite clear to Stan and his brother that she only joined this trip was that she may be able to find her mother. The two brothers knew better then to argue with the teenager. What was odd though, was that her boyfriend wasn't backing her up and seemed more interested in the mystery of the lost legacy of the Pines family more than searching for his girlfriend's mother. Normally, Wendy would be forgiving of something like that since it was just her lovers nature, but they couple hadn't spoken to one another since they discovered their families' roots in Gotham. Since then, everyone could feel the tension between the two of them, but for their sake, they stayed out of it.

"We should make plan for what to do next, Stanly" Ford suggested "remember, we were summoned here by some unknown host who may or may not be on the up and up with us"

"your brother has a point, Stan" Gideon agreed "we need to find this stranger and discover our collective connection to Gotham"

"I could care less what you guys do" Wendy mentioned sharply "I'm going to Arkam to find my mom, with or without your help"

"Listen Wendy, while looking for your mom's a pretty noble goal, I can't just let you go to that madhouse on your own" the old con-artist denied "Maybe after we get this whole thing straightened out then maybe we can— "

"I already told you that I don't give a shit about my family's past!" the redhead snapped back "all I care about is finding my mother!"

Before anyone could make an argument, the teenager stormed into her room and slammed the door behind her. everyone looked over to Dipper, who had been silent during his lover's outburst.

"Just give her some time to settle down. This is a lot for her to take in" he reasoned to the group "Wendy spent nearly her entire life thinking her mom hated her. Now she's just found that her dad's been lying to her this whole time. She just wants to know the truth like we do"

"So how much space do you intend to give her?" his great-uncle asked "because if it's the whole trip, then she might decide that she won't need you in her life"

Mason couldn't help but agree with that. True he wanted to find out more about the Pines family's past, but he deeply cared for Wendy more than any tantalizing mystery in the world. a part of him wanted to go after her, but he knew better then to try to talk Wendy when she was in a foul mood.

"I think maybe we should just get some rest for now" Ford offered "it's been a long trip and none of us are in shape to start searching for answers in a city like this. We'll start first thing in the morning"

"Sounds good to me" his sibling said "I'm gonna take advantage of our host's credit cards and order a shit ton of food and rent some X-rated films!"

"I'm also gonna do one of things!" Mabel cheered

As Ford and Mason gave a facepalm in unison at their sibling's antics, the teenager noticed that Soos had been quiet the entire time. The young paranormal investigator saw that his heavy-set friend was looking out the hotel room's window.

"You ok, Soos?" he inquired

"Huh? Oh, yeah dude" Soos nswered "I just thought I saw something on the roof of that building across from us"

The rest of the group looked out the window and toward the building that the handyman was referring to. But as they all collectively looked at the rooftop, they saw not so much as a single shadow. However, since Gotham had its more than fair share of psychos, they took the precaution of closing the blinds to the room in case they were being watched by some unknown stalker. With that, everyone retired to their rooms to get some much-needed rest, all the while Dipper inwardly couldn't help but feel guilty for not supporting his beloved redhead and her endeavor to find out about what had really become of her mother. As he followed Mabel into their shared suite, he silently decided that his love for Wendy overruled his curiosity, and he swore he would make it up to her.

* * *

"Well that was a close one" Robin said as he and Batman stepped out from their hiding spot behind the ventilation system

Robin was right, that was indeed a close call. The dynamic duo had been tailing the group from Oregon since they departed from the airport from the shadows of Gotham's massive buildings and had successfully tracked them to the hotel in total stealth, that was until the man known as Soos nearly spotted them. When Barbra had told Bruce that the nine decedents of the so-called 'forgotten families of Gotham' arrive in the city of their supposed origins the day after this new villain calling himself the Omen declared war on Bruce Wayne was hardly a coincidence in the dark knight's book, but whether or not if these people were in on this plot or merely pawns in the Omen's game remained a mystery to the masked vigilante.

Before tailing them, Batman dug through mountains of data in order to find what he could about these newcomers to his city. While there was nothing of note for a good majority of the group, Stanly Pines however, had a criminal record longer Plastic Man's reach. From racketeering to smuggling drugs across the border, the man had done nearly every illegal action except rape and murder—and even then, he had been investigated for the latter several times in the past. What also perplexed the world's greatest detective was that Stanly's twin brother, Ford, was said to be missing, and yet Batman and his young ward found a man who looked incredibly similar to the old con-artist, so unless Stanly hired an actor to pose as his missing twin sibling, the rumors to Stanford Pines's demise had been clearly exaggerated.

What was also unknown to the caped crusader was if they knew of Heather Maddix's passing several months ago. From the records, the late Ms. Maddix had no next of kin notified of her untimely passing in Arkam, nor did she have anything of value for her estranged family to inherit. Even stranger was the fact that only Heather's daughter was the only one who arrived in Gotham and not with the rest of her family. Did she even know of her mother's death? Or was she coming to Gotham unaware of past events? The answers eluded Bruce and his partner, and it felt like this was only the beginning of something terrible on the horizon.

"Master Bruce" Alfred voice said through the masks headset "Miss Gordon has finished sifting through Arkam's video files as you requested and has found several recorded sessions of Ms. Maddix's time with Professor Strange. She has sent the files to your computer"

"Copy that, Alfred. We're on our way back" Batman acknowledged

"Shouldn't we stick around and see what there up to?" Tim suggested

"I doubt they'll be going anywhere else for the rest of the day" his teacher replied

With that, the dynamic duo took out their grappling hooks in unison and fired them to the next building, beginning their trek back to the Batcave.

* * *

Batman and Robin weren't the only ones who had been stalking the newcomers to Gotham from the shadows, but unlike them, this individual was not a hero, but one of the many terrors that haunted Gotham. In truth, when he first saw the group, he brushed them off as nothing more than tourists and continue with his day with stealing the proper parts he needed to make others submit to him. but then he saw… _ **her**_. She was perfect, young, spunky and blonde. She was everything he wanted, and what or who he wanted he got, regardless of how anyone felt on the matter—they'd only feel what he wanted them to feel in the end anyway.

But he couldn't face her now, he simply wasn't presentable, oh there was so much to do and time was so short! He had to get everything prepared for the girl's arrival—it had to be absolutely perfect for her! but for the moment, he had to finish his devices, after all, if he was to take the girl to where she truly belonged then he had to make sure she would obey him to the letter. He was so filled with joy in his heart that he thought it was going to burst from happiness. For her he had found her, his perfect child…his Alice.

And this time, when he brought her to Wonderland, he would make sure she'd stay there with him forever.

* * *

News of the descendants of the forgotten families of Gotham spread like wildfire throughout the city's underworld. Unlike the higher-class of Gotham social elite, some of the stories of Allister Pines and his cohorts still lived on in the mean streets of Gotham, but most were just rumors and legends of the ancestors of the Pines family—a sort ghost story more than fact for the most part. No one truly believed that if Allister or his friends had any surviving family members in this day and age they would stay as far away from this city as they possibly could out of fear of what the native Gothamitits might do to them for their families past transgressions.

One such person who had heard the tales of Allister Pines was one Oswald Cobblepot, better known and feared by the people of Gotham as the Penguin. When he was a child, he first heard about the story of Allister Pines and his friends' crimes against Gotham from his late elder brothers, who would only tell him to frighten him. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he killed them all, for trying to scare him with such nonsense. And that was all he thought it was for the longest time, just stories and nothing more. However, that changed when a man came into his office unannounced.

Now normally, when someone had the audacity to just barge into his office without his say so, he would have them shot and their body sent off to be either thrown into the harbor or to a butcher shop to be ground into someone's burger the next day. But the man who stepped into his office was not someone who one could simply make disappear. This was someone who demanded both fear and respect from those who knew him. He was Thomas Elliot A.K.A Hush, and he was not a man to be trifled with.

Thomas Elliot was once the childhood friend of Bruce Wayne would one day grow up to a prominent surgeon, but unlike Wayne who lost his parents in a tragic accident, Thomas attempted to end his parent's life on his own. While he was successful in taking his father's life in a car accident he caused, Thomas Wayne managed to save young Elliot's mother, causing her to become a bitter, overprotective old crone whom Thomas ended up killing with his own hands when she on her death bed. But the surgeon never forgot what the Wayne's did to his plans, nor did never forgive. Donning a trechcoat, two guns and wrapping his head in bandages, he declared war on all of Gotham as Hush, a plot that Oswald found himself wrapped in. The bird-themed villain even heard rumors that Elliot had surgically altered his face to look like that of his former childhood friend's face, but didn't want to ask the man to show him what was under all those bandages.

After killing his way through several of Penguin's men to get to his office, Oswald decided to hear the man out, more out of fear of what Hush may do to him if he turned him away. He played it cool by lighting a cigar and leaning back in his chair, putting on a faced that he didn't fear the mad surgeon.

"Well if it ain't Dr. Elliot" Oswald said with a smirk "tell me doc, to what do I owe this house call?"

Hush said nothing at first, instead he only strode up Cobblepot's desk and reached into his trenchcoat to pull out what Oswald first assumed as a gun. Acting on instinct, Penguin reached of his umbrella with the full intent of defending himself. But instead of drawing a gun, he drew a vanilla folder and tossed it on Oswald's desk, letting photos of several individuals fall across it. Penguin looked over the pictures with an unamused look on his face before giving his thoughts.

"Am I supposed to know who the bloody hell these people are?" he inquired in deadpan voice

"You should" Hush simply answered "these are descendants of Allister Pines and his circle of friends"

That took Penguin aback. He then began to look through the photos with a mixture of fear and interest in his heart. What crime lord once thought was fiction held some fact after all, and rather than be fascinated by it, it only hilled his heart with dread.

"Are you sure it's them?" he inquired

"I did an extensive background check, it's them all right" the former surgeon assured "and should history repeat itself, which it so often does, then I would say is a problem that needs to be dealt with before these people threaten our respective businesses"

"So why come to me with all this?" Oswald question with suspicion laced in his words "you know I'm still rather sore about that crap you pulled on me awhile back"

"Simple, really: you're the only person with the resources and contacts to handle a threat like this" Hush answered "I've already hired someone to deal with them, but should she fail, I was hoping that you would be able to hire someone who could get the job done"

Cobblepot was intrigued now, if someone like Hush needed his help then he would be owed a favor from the mad doctor, and that would be something he could save for a rainy day indeed. Penguin smirked as he took a long inhale of his cigar before blowing a large cloud of smoke from his mouth and nostrils.

"I might know a guy" he finally said with a grin

* * *

The Pink Pussykat was a slum of a strip club located on the edge of Crime Ally. It was a favorite haunt for the henchmen of the vast assortment of Batman's rouges gallery, where they could ogle, gawk and more often the not rape the girls that the club's staff would pluck from the streets, or schools, and addle their brains with so much drugs that they wouldn't able to remember anything—or resist anyone's advances. Batman and the GCPD had more than once shut the place down, but like the city's cockroach population, the Pink Pussykat would always come back with a little help from generous funds from the city council, whom they would thank by letting them have fun with the new girls they would acquire.

It was a normal evening at the club when someone new to the strip club barged in. He was covered in the blood of the bouncers at the front door who had foolishly attempted to stop him, only to be torn to shreds in doing so. Even though he never stepped foot in the Pink Pussykat before, he was very well known throughout the streets of Gotham, as well as feared as the reptilian-like crook, Waylon Jones A.K.A Killer Croc.

Nobody knew as to why Croc stepped into the strip club tonight, even the drugged-up strippers wouldn't get near him no matter how much money he had on him. However, no one was going to tell the hulking, seven-foot-five cannibal man-lizard to leave the premises. Croc looked at the club patrons and strippers who had their eyes locked on him and merely shrugged it off. He was used to people staring at his monstrous appearance at this point in his life and made his way further into the club. Waylon soon strode up to the owner of the club's office without anyone trying to stop him. Once there, Killer Croc tore down the door like he was snapping a tooth pick.

The owner of the Pink Pussykat was a late forties, balding, foul-smelling, over-weight scumbag by the name of Jasper Mortly. Jasper was a drug-dealer and a pedophile who only loved money more than he did meth and little girls. Croc maybe a murderer and cannibal, but even he despised people like Jasper, so what he was about to do was going to be all the easier for him to go through with. When the club's owner saw Croc tear down his down, he fell out of his seat with blow still on his upper lip as he cried in terror at the sight of the monster lumbering toward him. Waylon grabbed the side of the desk and flung it aside, smashing a wall in the process, all the while his prey scurried into a corner in sheer terror.

"Hiya, Jasper" Croc greeted coldly "let's talk"

Outside of being a drugged-out child molester, another thing Jasper was known for was being in touch with most of the goings on in the criminal underworld. It was one of the reasons that kept him from serving long-sentences in Blackgate Prison. But Croc wasn't the cops or the Batman, and therefore Jasper had all that more to fear from the man-lizard. He reached down and snatched up the pedophile by his greasy shirt and slammed him in up against the wall before his face mere inches away from the scum's face, showing his blood-stained fangs to him.

"W-W-What d-do you want, C-Croc?" the club owner stammered out in horror

"Information" Croc growled "The policeman's ball got attacked the Joker and some freak with a scythe. I wanna know who's the new guy"

"H-how would I-I know? I'm j-just a s-small-time club o-owner" reasoned, his fear making him trip over every word as he did

Waylon narrowed his yellow, reptile-like eyes as he let out a low hiss. He wasn't buying a single word Jasper was saying.

"Ok! Ok! I'll talk!" Jasper relented "he's calls himself the Omen. The word on the streets is he's been working with the Joker in secret to plan that attack on the policemen's ball to get at Bruce Wayne"

"Why?!" Croc snarled, slamming into the wall again as he did

"I don't know! I swear I don't!" the portly club owner cried out

Croc could tell by the fear in his eyes that Jasper was telling the truth. With low rumble in his throat, the cannibal dropped the pedophile to the ground and let him scramble to his back to his feet.

"S-so, are we good?" Jasper asked "can I get you anything else?"

"Yeah…" Croc began with a wicked smirk "Dinner!"

The Pink Pussykat were filled with Jasper's screams, which were then followed by the sound of flesh being torn the bone as the cannibal devoured their boss. After ten sickening minutes of hearing Jones eat the pedophile, he finally stepped out of his meal's office, covered in even more blood then before. Everyone in the strip club either ran out the door or froze in terror of the man-lizard. Croc ignored the chaos he caused and made his way out the door. He was on a mission, and every second counted. He finally had a name for the man he was going to kill, but that would have to wait until he took care of another matter. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small photograph. It was of a girl with red hair, and it was vital that he find this girl before anyone else could hold of her. He was told by someone he once knew that one day he was to seek out this girl when the time came, and that time was now.

"I'm coming for you, Wendy" he said to the photo before sneaking off into the nearest manhole

* * *

It was around four in the morning when Wendy stepped out of her hotel room and into the hallway. Her mind was made up and no one was going to stop her now. A part of her did feel guilty for just up and abandoning her friends like this, but finding her mother was paramount to the teen, and she wouldn't let anyone or anything stop her. She downloaded the directions onto her phone before heading out the door. Wendy left on a note on her bed to tell the others were she going, but by the time they found it she would be already at the asylum. She slowly closed the door behind her to prevent too much noise before starting to walk down the hall.

"Going somewhere?" a voice casually asked

Wendy spun around to see her boyfriend leaning against door to his and his sister's room with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed at her in an accusing look. Rather than looked relieved, Wendy was vexed by the fact that she had already been caught.

"Don't try to stop me, Mason" she warned him sharply "I'm going and you can't stop me!"

"I don't want to stop you, Wendy" he replied calmly "I want to help you"

"Wait what?" the teen answered, dumbfounded "but what about your family's history?"

"Stan and Ford can find that stuff without my help" Dipper said before taking on a more mournful look on her face "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I should've backed you up from the start. I mean this your mother for god's sake, that matters more than whatever my family did in the past"

He then walked up to the woman he loved and took her hand in his hand, making her blush on instinct alone.

"I love you Wendy, and I want to help you in any way I can" Mason continued "and I just know how to start"

"What are you going to do?" the ginger asked, despite already knowing the answer

"I'm going to help you find your mother, Wendy" her boyfriend informed her "we're going to Arkam"


	5. A Serious House on a Serious Earth

Chapter Four: A Serious House on a Serious Earth

Nearly an hour after Dipper and Wendy had left the hotel, Mabel awoke to an empty room. Her twin senses were telling her that her brother had gone off to do something stupid. At first she assumed that Mason had snuck out of their room and into Wendy's room in an attempt to settle the tension that had been building between them since the start of this whole mess and perhaps a little extra. Just before the sweater-wearing girl was about to head to Wendy's room, she noticed that her phone had a new text message. Acting on a gut feeling, she picked up her phone and saw that the message was from Dipper. it said that he and Wendy had left for Arkam Asylum so that they could find Wendy's mother and they would probably be back later today, depending on how long it was going to take however.

"You can't be serious" Mabel said to herself in disbelief

During their adventures the twins sometimes took some rather stupid risks in order to protect the town or for their own gain—which usually didn't turn out all that well. But the fact that Dipper agreed to go with his girlfriend to an asylum holding some of the most dangerous psychotics on the planet without informing anyone else outside of his sister was downright idiotic to Mabel—and she had done more than her fair share of stupid things! The logical course of action would be to go to Grunkle Stan and Ford and tell them what the couple had done and let them handle this, but she knew that when her great-uncles got a hold of her brother they would more than likely throttle him and punish Wendy as well. It wasn't like they were running off to go sight-seeing, Dipper was only trying to help the girl he loved reunite with her estranged mother, though it was unfortunate that her mother was locked-up in a maximum-security asylum.

It was at that moment that Mabel decided that she would find her brother herself, but she knew would need help in searching for Dipper and Wendy. At first she considered asking Soos for help, but she knew that he would want to inform Grunkle Stan about this whole mess, so he was off the table. It was then that the light bulb in Mabel's head switched on, giving her the perfect idea of who could help her in this situation. The hyperactive girl quickly got dressed before rushing over to the room of the one person who could help her bring back the two lovers. Mabel rapt on the door to get its occupants attention, which proved successfully. The room's occupant opened the door and slowly stepped out of her room with a tired grimace on her face.

"This better be important, Mabel" Pacifica growled as she wiped the sleep from her eyes

"It is, Pacifica" Mabel assured her "I need your help"

* * *

"You know, I'm starting to think that this was a bad idea" Mason commented

There it was. Standing before Dipper and Wendy in all its unholy glory: Arkam Asylum. In all honesty, it had all the appearances of a cathedral or a medieval castle then it a mental hospital. It also wasn't the easiest place to get to in Gotham, mostly to its history and who it was home to. No buses passed by it on their routes, nor would any Uber or Taxi drivers would drive to the asylum no matter how much money the pair offered to pay. Finally, one Taxi driver agreed to at least take the two teens to the bridge that lead to the asylum, but they would have to walk the rest of the way. after taking the ride to the front of the long bridge, Mason and Wendy walked the rest of the way to Arkam, which to their surprise was a long three-mile bridge. Arkam was once located in the city, but after numerous break outs, the madhouse was relocated to small island with only the bridge being the only way in or out to the facility, sadly though, it didn't stop the inmates from making their escapes back out into Gotham.

The walk along the bridge was a silent one for Dipper and Wendy. In fact, the whole trip to the asylum they didn't say much to one another. While Wendy was still a bit mad at her lover for not backing her up sooner, the main thing that was on her mind was what was she going to say to her mother when she saw her again after all these years? The redhead doubted that her mother would mentally well enough to just throw open her arms and let her long-lost daughter run into them for a loving embrace. But then again, her farther never told her that her mother getting worse, and perhaps she was just being kept there against her will.

What was she going to say to her? what could she say to her? there where so many things Wendy wanted to both ask and tell her mother that she simply didn't know where to start. She wondered what she would think of her former husband and the job he did of raising their children on her own. Would she be grateful to him, or would she be resentful to the man who had her locked away from the family they made together? and what would she think of Mason? Would she approve of the teen or would she laugh at the teenager she loved?

Mason was also lost in thought as well. He was concerned for his girlfriend's mental state at the moment and how all of this was affecting her. In less than three days, Wendy had discovered that a mother that she once thought left her behind was still inside of an asylum that housed monsters like the Joker for the past eleven years, it was a lot to take in. No doubt that if Wendy's mother has been kept locked up in Arkam this long she wouldn't be in the best mental condition. He could only hope that for a best-case scenario: a happy reunion between mother and daughter, but as last summer had shown him, it was rarely that simple.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Wendy?" Dipper asked "You might not like what you find in there"

"I have to know, Dipper" his lover replied in a tone that sounded unsure if she still wanted to go through with this or not

With a deep, calming breath, Wendy walked up to the front gate of the asylum with Dipper at her side. The guard at the front gate stepped out his box to meet with them.

"Can I help you kids?" he asked in annoyed voice

"Yes, my name is Wendy Corduroy and I'm looking for Heather Cor— "the redhead began before correcting herself "Heather Maddix"

The guard eyes widen for a few seconds upon hearing that name before looking at the pair suspiciously.

"And who is she to you?" he inquired

"She's her mother" Dipper answered for his lover "she hasn't seen her in over ten years"

"And who are you, her little brother?" the guard asked with a chuckle

"I'm her boyfriend" Mason answered defensively

No matter where they went as a couple, there was always some moron who had to either make a joke about the height difference between the couple, or that Dipper was younger than his girlfriend. The teen grimaced as he let a frustrated sigh, but Wendy shot him a soft glance that comforted him, letting him know to let it go and move on before turning her attention back to the guard.

"Can I see my mother or not?" Wendy insisted

"Uh—give me a sec" the guard said

The teenage couple were confused as the guard quickly walked back to his box and called the Asylum staff. He told them of the pair and mentioned that they wanted to see Heather Maddix. After several moments, he finally said 'ok' before hanging up and walking back out to the front gate, carrying two badges in his hand as he did.

"Ok, here are your I.D badges. Keep them on you at all time" he informed them as he them their badges "one you step inside the asylum; they'll be someone at the front office to meet with you and take you through the asylum"

"To take me to my mom, right?" Wendy addressed

The guard said nothing to that, instead he opened the front gate to let them enter before shutting the gate back up, all the while having this forlorn and guilty look in his eyes. That look didn't bode well with either of the teen's and made them mentally prepared for whatever they were going to find. The moment they stepped into gothic building, Mason and Wendy's senses were assaulted by the horrid sounds and smells of the mental ward. They could hear the sounds of people screaming and babbling nonsense of the patients throughout the massive halls of the facility, along with the heavy stench of blood, filth and whatever awful smells that seemed to hang in the air like a heap of rotting corpses.

The couple were then approached by a woman who was clearly a member of the asylum's staff. She was middle aged woman who was dressed in a drown dress with a white coat over it and brown high-heels. What really caught Dipper and Wendy's attention was the pale, drained face the woman had, as if her very soul was pulled out of her and what was left was a husk of her former self.

"I'm Dr. Ruth Adams" she introduced "I was a psychiatrist for your mother for a short time"

"Can you take us to her?" Wendy asked, trying her best the hide the hopefulness in her voice as she did

The doctor paused to take a somber breath, making the ginger start to fear the worst.

"There's no easy way to tell you this so I'll just say it" Dr. Adams said sadly "Your mother died six months ago"

With just those few words, Wendy's whole world crumbled out from under her. The sheer weight of Dr. Adams's words caused the lumberjack's daughter to fall to her knees out remorse. The entire reason she came to Gotham was to be reunited with her mother, and now it had amounted to nothing. Her mother had died six months ago and she wasn't told by the Arkam staff in anyway shape or form—or at least, that's what she thought, for all she knew they got in contact with her farther and he never told her or her brothers. The tears were starting to fall from her face and she didn't care that she was crying in the middle of the asylum, she had just lost the one person she wanted to have a connection to—and she had long been dead.

Dipper put his arms around the older girl and he attempted to do his best to console her. A part of him hated the fact that his fears that something would keep his girlfriend from her mother would happen, but he never expected something of this magnitude to happen. He wished he could do more for her, but all he could was just try to help through the pain. Dr. Adams was also empathic toward the teen's pain and decided to offer her help in this matter.

"I can take you to her cell if you'd like" she offered "we also have several of her personal items from her time in the asylum in storage. It only seems fair that it should all go to you. You are next of kin after all"

"We'll just take her things and leave" Dipper replied

"No" Wendy suddenly denied as she wiped away the tears from her eyes "I want to see my mother's cell"

"Are you sure?" Mason asked in concern

Wendy only nodded as a response before picking herself off the floor. Dipper wasn't going to stop her; this was perhaps the only way his lover was ever going to get closure and he wanted to at least be there for her during all this. Dr. Adams made a small, faint smile for a moment or two at the sight of the teenager wanting to see this through before it faded as quickly as it came. From that tiny smile alone made Mason realize how soul crushing it must be for the asylum's staff to work here day in/day out while being surrounded by this insanity.

"Before I take you, I must warn you that it's located with most aggressive inmates within Arkam" she instructed "If any of the inmates attempt to speak to you or try to get your attention, ignore them. Do you understand?"

"We do" Wendy acknowledged

With that, Dr. Adams lead the teens down the hall and into the depths of Arkam. As they walked further into the madhouse, Mason and Wendy could almost feel the buildings past evils sept through air and cling to their skin like a parasite. It was nothing sort of a miracle that Dr. Adams and the others hadn't gone mad themselves from working in a place like this.

"I only treated your money for only four months before she died" the psychiatrist mentioned "she wasn't as violent as she was when she was she was under Professor Strange's so called care, but I'm pretty sure he only drove your poor mother crazier"

"What do you mean?" Wendy inquired

"You mean you don't know?" Dr. Adams said, with small look of surprise on her face "Strange had been experimenting on the patients under his supervision and turning many of them into monsters. It wasn't until Batman stopped him that we learned just how crazy he was—he even claimed that he knew Batman's true identity if you can believe it. Thankfully, your mother wasn't changed into one of Strange's monster men as he called them"

"What happened to him?" Mason questioned

"He escaped to somewhere in the middle-east" the doctor explained "personally, I hope that bastard stepped on a landmine during his stay there"

Wendy shared her sentiments toward Strange. Even during their brief meeting when he came to take her mother back to this hellhole she had a feeling not to trust him. it also made her all the more regretful that she never knew what her mother had gone through during her stay here. They occasional passed one of the less violent inmates of Arkam, who would try to say something to them or reach out to touch them, both of which an orderly they were being accompanied by would stop them and escorted their charges away from the trio. Despite the monsters it housed, Mason couldn't help but feel a small sense of sympathy for the inmates of Arkam. He knew that most of them were killers, but they were also people who society tried their best to throw in a hole and forget about. Sure, they were being treated, but just by looking at Dr. Adams told the teenager that was going nowhere. Perhaps that's was one of the reasons why they kept breaking out, maybe they just wanted to be part of the world again.

As they made their way further into the facility, the air around them began to grow colder with step. It wasn't before long they passed by the cause for the sudden chill in the air. They passed by the cell that belonged to one Victor Fries, A.K.A Mr. Freeze. He was stripped of his suit and was confined to a sub-zero room. The frost-themed villain gave only a dark scowl to the passing trio as he sat on his small bed before turning his attention back to the snow globe in his hands.

"I never thought I'd see Mr. Freeze in person" Dipper mentioned with a small hint of excitement in his voice before asking "Where's his wife, Nora?"

"We keep his wife in the research wing of the asylum" Dr. Adams informed them "we let him continue to do his research to find a cure for her. In exchange, Victor has agreed to receive physiological treatment from our staff"

"Has that helped?" Mason questioned with interest

"You tell me?" the doctor asked back as she looked at him with such hollow eyes

Dipper couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Freeze. He was only a man who was trying to save the life of the woman he loved, could anyone truly condemn for that? True, Freeze had murdered hundreds of people, but it was all in the name of his wife. Mason couldn't help but think of what lengths he would go to save Wendy's life if he was put in that situation, or Mabel, or Stan, or anyone else close to his heart for that matter. Would he sit idly by allow other people handle it, or would he step up and do something himself. The Pines boy had dressed up as a sheep and did the 'lamby lamby dance' for a group of ghosts that endangered his girlfriend's life, and he did everything in his power not to beat Gideon to death for trying to take his sister away from him, but did he have it in him to become someone like Freeze? He honestly couldn't say for sure.

Further into the asylum, Dr. Adams lead Mason and Wendy past other cells of other infamous inmates that called this place home sweet home. There was Maxie Zeus, the man who thought he was literally a god among men. The next cell over to him was the villain known as Dr. Destiny, a wheelchair bound elderly man who reeked of piss who was currently staring blankly at the static on a TV screen, but should Destiny look someone in the eye, their mind would be torn asunder. Following that was the serial killer, Victor Zsasz, a man obsessed with killing—or as he called it 'saving'—people and cutting a tally mark for each of his victims into his flesh. Zsasz was just sitting on his bed until he saw the two teens pass by his cell. In a flash, he leapt from his bed and ran up to the bullet-proof glass door of his cell, banging his fists against door as he did. His surprise movement made the couple reel back slightly out of fear in response. Zsasz grinned at that reaction before they walked past his cell, all the while keeping his line of sight trained on them.

Another one of Arkam's inmate's, Arnold Wesker, better known as the Ventriloquist was busy having a conversation with a sock he had placed over his hand. The following cell contained the serial killer Julian Day, the holiday themed murderer who called himself the Calendar Man. The next one was home to Lazlo Valentine A.K.A Professor Pyg, who was singing some opera song, all the while he made pig-like grunts and snorts as he sang. The cell over housed Mary Dahl, a former TV star from the classic series Baby Doll who was born with rare medical condition that kept her from physically aging. Mary noticed the trio and gave them a happy, child-like smile as she waved to them. the teens gave an awkward smile as they gave a small wave back to her.

Wendy had only been here less than an hour and already she could feel her mind reeling from all this insanity around. To imagine her own mother being trapped in here for over ten years with these monsters and a psychotic doctor made her feel all the more sorrowful for her estranged mother. It was now more than ever that she wanted to know the answer to the questioned she had dreaded to ask ever since she heard the news.

"How did…" Wendy's voice trailed off before she forced herself to say "How did my mother die?"

"We suspect that it was one of the other inmates who killed her" Dr. Adams explained "as to who specifically, we don't know. The security camera in your mother's cell was disabled during the attack. We didn't even know she was dead until one of the guards found her body during his morning rounds"

The redhead's emotions instantly changed from sadness to rage. Her mother was slain in this hellhole by one of these freaks of nature and she wasn't there for her. what did she feel during her last moments? Sadness? Regret? Anger? Did she think of her children? Even more question Wendy buzzed about in her mind like a nest of furious hornets. She was so caught up in her with her own questions that she almost didn't realize that they had finally reached her late mother's cell.

The now empty cell that belonged to Heather Maddix was nothing special. It was your typical Arkam cell that was a big as motel bedroom with a bed and chair to rest in as well as a single toilet against the wall. There was an empty bookshelf over the bed and a drape that was obviously hung by asylum's staff to cover up something Wendy's mom must have craved into the wall during her long stay here.

"If you'll wait here, I'll go get your mothers things for you" Dr. Adams requested "Just stay here and remember what I said about the inmates"

With that, the psychiatrist departed from the couple, leaving them alone to look at the cell. The door was open so that they could look inside and see if there were any clues within it to help them find her killer.

"Oh you won't find anything of value in here" came a voice "the so called 'forensic experts' of Gotham's esteemed Police Department have already picked that room clean of any evidence, and surprise! They couldn't find anything but their own version of the truth!"

Wendy and her lover turned around to see that the source of the voice was coming from the cell across from the one they were in. The occupant inside it was a tall, thin man wearing glasses and had dark brown hair. His cell was filled with question marks and riddles drawn all over the walls, as if they were some sort of street graffiti. The teenagers didn't need to be told who this inmate was, they could figure out just from looking at his cell. He was known as Edward Nygma, but he was better known throughout Gotham city and to the world at large as the Riddler.

"And why, dare I ask, are you two junior sleuths snooping around the late Ms. Maddix's cell?" Riddler inquired curiously

Before Dipper could stop her, Wendy spoke up.

"She was my mother" she stated sharply

"Ah! So, you're the spawn of Ms. Maddix's womb she wouldn't stop talking about" Nygma said with interest "Well it's an honor to finally meet you in person—the honor being all yours of meeting me of course"

"Save it, freak!" the ginger snapped back "for all I know, you're the one who killed her!"

"Not true! I was out of Arkam during the time of your mother's death" Riddler defended "and furthermore, what would I gain from killing her? she had sharp mind…well, at least until toward the end of her life that is"

Wendy crossed her arms and glared daggers at the madman. She wasn't buying a single word he said, how could she? Nygma's M.O was centered around puzzles, riddles and lies, so this could easily be another lie of his making. It also filled her heart with anger that these freaks spent more time with her mother then she ever did in her entire lifetime.

"And what are you to our dearly departed Ms. Maddix?" Edward asked Dipper "one of her three sons?"

"I'm Wendy's boyfriend" Mason corrected harshly

"Well I must say my boy that your girlfriend has an interesting taste in men" Riddler laughed

"I swear if you weren't inside that cell I'd— "Mason attempted to threaten

"Do what?" Nygma cut off with a dark smirk, only for the boy to back down "I thought so"

"Forget him, Mason" his girlfriend offered "He's no to help to us"

"Excuse me?" Riddler demanded in an offended tone "I am more than capable of helping you two brats!"

"But you said that you weren't here when my mom was killed" the ginger replied "so you can't help us"

Just before Dipper could stop Wendy from antagonizing the villain further, he realized what she doing. Wendy was doing what any smart person would do to get the Riddler to talk: strike at his gigantic ego. If there was one thing Edward coveted more than wealth and mental superiority, it was his vanity toward his intelligence. More often than not it was the downfall to even his greatest schemes. Mason also often forget that underneath her beauty and rugged nature, Wendy Corduroy was very intelligent girl. It was one of the many things he loved about her.

" _Clever girl_ " he thought to himself as a smile formed on his face

"I may not have been here, but I can tell you other things" Edward explained in irritation "I can tell you that the assailant was granted access inside your mother's cell, meaning the killer either overridden the security codes to the cell or knew them by heart. I can tell you that the camera feed was only cut for only four and half minutes, thus giving the killer enough time to do the deed and sneak off before anyone noticed. I also know that the killer must've been familiar with the asylum's rotation of the guard, giving a chance to sneak through the building without being detected"

"And yet you still don't know who the killer is" Wendy pointed out

"I don't" Nygma admitted before nudging his head to side "But he might"

The couple looked over to the neighboring cell to see a tall, muscular man sitting in his darkened cell, silently flipping a coin in his hand as his sights were transfixed on every flip of the piece of silver. Just from the coin alone they knew who this was. Once, this man was Gotham's district attorney, the first honest and true one the city had in a long time. He was called the city's white knight, the person who could save the city in a way Batman ever could. But all of that was destroyed when a gangster named Maroni threw acid in his face, permanently scarring not only his face, but also his psyche forever. He was Harvey Dent A.K.A Two Face.

"If you think we'll say anything then your crazier than Nygma is" Dent informed the couple as he continued to flip his coin

"Please, I just want to know what happened to my mom" Wendy begged

"Tough shit" Two Face brushed off "People die. Get over it and move on"

Now it was Dipper's turn to get into a villain's head. He had a suspicion that if he could appeal to one of the two sides of Harvey's personalities, then maybe he could get him to talk. There was no way he was going to get Dent's darker half on their side, so that left only Harvey's lighter side, the side of him that remained the man he once was to be their only hope of getting any answers.

"Where's the justice in that?" he said "where's the order?"

Harvey stopped flipping the coin and glanced over to the couple. Dipper knew had him now, he had to keep it up.

"You can't let this go unbalanced" Mason furthered "this type of injustice is the very thing you once fought against, and I'm pretty sure half of you knows it!"

Two Face said nothing at first, instead he stood up from his seat and turned to face the teenagers, exposing his scarred side them. It took everything Dipper had to keep himself from vomiting at the sight of the mangled side of Dent's face. The deformed crook grinned slightly at the boy's reaction before speaking.

"Tell you what, we'll let the coin decide" he began "you can ask me any question you want. Heads, I swear to tell you only the truth. Tails, and I won't say a damn thing"

Neither of the teens liked the idea of playing this game with the psychopath, but sadly this was the only way they could get any answers about the night of Wendy's mother's death. So much to their chagrin, they would have to play along with Two Face's version of questioning.

"Where you here the night of my mother's death?" Wendy asked

Harvey flipped the coin. Heads.

"Yeah, I was here that night" he answered "But it was late and I was about to go to sleep when I heard a noise that got my attention. I didn't see the murder or get a good look at the guy who killed her either. The Arkam staff turn off the light in the hall around ten o'clock. But I could make out a shape in the moonlight leaving your mom's cell and heading down the hall. I just assumed it was some wacko who was trying to help bust your mom out of here and went to bed. I didn't know she had been killed until I heard the guard who found her body woke me up from all his screaming"

"Could you see any features of the figure you saw?" Dipper questioned this time "a hat? a jacket? Something that could be pointed out"

Another flip. Heads again.

"Not much, but I did see the guy carrying a big ass scythe with him, and I think he was wearing a robe like a monk's, only it was red" Harvey explained "as for his face or other body parts, I couldn't see any of that"

"Do know you anyone in Arkam who would want to hurt my mother?" Wendy asked again

Another flip of the coin. This time tails.

"Try again" Two Face said with a chuckle

Wendy growled in frustration at that and clenched her fists in anger, but Dipper quickly took control of the situation and asked a different version of the question.

"Do you _think_ anyone in Arkam would want to hurt Ms. Maddix?" he inquired

Now it was Dent's turn to growl in displeasure before flipping the coin again. This time it landed on heads.

"None that I can think of" he answered "your mother was well liked around here—inmates and staff alike. After Strange was kicked out of here, she calmed down a bit and spent of her time making us feel…human"

"Well, the Joker certainly didn't like her" Riddler chimed in "but then again, he doesn't like anyone"

"Shut it, Nygma!" Dent snapped

"Next question" Wendy interrupted before they could argue "what was my mother like?"

The coin was flipped again. Heads.

"Your mother was a real sweetheart" Harvey informed her "like I said, she made us feel like we weren't just the scum of the earth. But she kept talking about you and some great destiny you had"

"What destiny?" Dipper asked in confusion

Another flip. Tails.

"Are you kidding me?!" the boy demanded

"Ask another question" Harvey simply said "and this time don't try to ask the same question in a different way, or I won't answer it at all"

Dipper let out a sigh in anger before letting Wendy speak again.

"What did my mother say about me?" she asked "not about the destiny, but just me as her daughter"

The coin was flipped again. Heads again.

"She loved you" Two Face answered in gentler voice, clearly the Harvey side of his dual personas "She wanted to be a part of your life above all else. She was sorry that she was never there for you. Your first boyfriend. Your first heartbreak. Your day at school. All the birthdays and Christmases that she left out of; she regretted that she missed your whole life. She could only hope that you could forgive her for that"

While Wendy tried to keep a strong face, but she could feel the tears welling up inside again, threating to crack the mask she had put on. She quickly turned away from the villains and walked a few steps away to try to pull herself back together again. While his lover was trying to compose herself, Dipper took control of the interrogation. He knew that Harvey was going to get tired of all these questions soon, so he had to end this game here and now before they really riled up Two Face.

"I've only got one question left" he began before pointing at Heather's cell "What's on her wall that the Arkam staff wanted to cover up"

Another flip. Tails again.

"Why don't you see for yourself, kid" he offered with dark smile

Dipper only glared at that remark before turning away from the split-personalities and walk back to Heather's cell. Wendy, however, turned back to look at the two inmates of Arkam who both helped and hindered them. Her eyes were red and puffy from holding off the tears she wanted to cry.

"Thank you" she said them in almost a whisper

Two Face only gave a small, but thoughtful in response while Riddler merely shrugged as way of saying 'you're welcome' in his own way. With that, they returned to their solitary lives. Wendy followed Mason back into her mother's cell and together they approached the sheet that covered whatever her mother had drawn it. the lumberjack's daughter ripped the sheet away and revealed what was behind it. The couple gasped in horror at the image that had been carved into the wall. It was an image of someone—something, that neither they nor all of Gravity Falls ever wanted to see again.

"No…" Dipper he said softly in total disbelief "God no!"

There etched into the wall, was the image of Bill Cipher.


	6. On The Streets of Madness

Chapter Five: On the Streets of Madness

"What do you mean 'their gone?!'" Stan shouted

"It's exactly what I mean, their gone" Soos answered "I thought I made that clear, dude"

Stan facepalmed as he grumbled a few swears into his hand. He should've expected that something like would happen, there was no way they could just stick together and figure this whole mystery out as a group, not while Wendy had her own agenda. And of course, Dipper sided with girlfriend and ran off to help her, which in turn made Mabel to run off to find him and drag Pacifica along to help her. There was no doubt that the couple were heading to Arkam to find Wendy's mother—if they hadn't already, that is. This would mean that the two girls were heading in that direction as well, they may have already caught up to other two runaways by now. The only kids that hadn't run off were Gideon and Robbie, though the goth hadn't left his room yet.

"What should we do, Stanly?" Ford asked his brother "should we wait around for them to come back or go looking for them?"

"Soos and I will find 'em" his twin answered "you and Gideon head to Gotham's library or wherever they keep their city records"

"But shouldn't we wait for our guest to tell us about that?" Gideon piped in

"Something tells me that whoever brought us to Gotham only wanted us here for their own reasons" the con-artist surmised "If we do have a connection to this shit hole of a city, then we should find out for ourselves"

Ford couldn't help but agree with that logic. Like Dipper, he was more interested in the mystery surrounding his family's supposed ties to this city then who had brought them here. But with his grand-niece and nephew missing in a place where the mentally demented ran free, he needed to get his priorities straightened out. On the other hand, Stan knew the twins longer and could probably find them quicker then he could.

"We better take Robbie with us for an extra set of eyes" Stan continued "plush I don't trust that punk alone. He might try to order some hookers without me—I mean without our consent—I mean—ah fuck it!"

"Don't worry about that Mr. Pines, Robbie's not here either" Soos informed him "I checked his room his room earlier, it was also empty"

"Are you kidding me?" Stan demanded with an angry sigh "where the hell did he run off to?!"

* * *

The answer to Stan's question was that long before anyone else had snuck out of the hotel, Robbie had already left his room and ventured out into Gotham city on his own. He figured that the group would still be asleep by the time he came back in the morning, though to be honest, he didn't care if they did find out his little romp. But he quickly came to regret that idea when he passed by a homeless man in an alleyway that he was using as a shortcut to get to another bar across from the one he had just tried to get into using a fake I.D he had brought with him, hoping this time it would work. The goth paid the bum no mind, it just homeless scumbag with a drug addiction, hardly worth his time, let alone any of the money had on him. Robbie merely gave the beggar a quick glower and moved on with the rest of his night.

Unfortunately for the teen, this wasn't some random homeless stranger. For when he walked past the beggar, the homeless man slowly rose to his feet and crept up behind Robbie. As he did, he reached into his vest to pull out a chloroform soaked rag from it. Once he was close enough to the goth, he lunged forward and put the rag over Robbie's face, making him begin to inhale the noxious fumes. The goth attempted to thrash out of his assailant's grasp, but with every breath, he inhaled, more and more of the chloroform weakened him until he finally fell unconscious.

With his prey knocked out, the beggar dragged the teen away, using the city's shadows as cover from any of Gotham's prying eyes before placing his test subject in the back of a nearby black van. He knew that this act would earn him a new test subject, and he believed he just found the perfect one for his new tests. The goth scene always fascinated the good doctor, always claiming that the darkness and other things that scared a normal man made them happy. They always said they only feared normalcy, but the doctor had a feeling that was nothing but a front to cover up their own fears and insecurities from the world around them. Now he had a chance to see what the so called 'children of the night' feared the most.

"I'm just dying to know what scares you" Johnathan Crane, the Scarecrow said to his latest victim

* * *

Jolly Jaxs was a once prominent toy factory in the Gotham area during the forties and right up until the late eighties when the company was ruined after the health department discovered a serious amount of led in their toy products. Since then, the company's main factory had been sitting empty and dilapidated for years. Since the time of its closing, the only things that resided in this place where the homeless and the rats. That was until three weeks ago when the Clown Prince of Crime and his new partner set up a base of operations in the abandoned toy factory. They started by evicting the current residents of the building through use of deadly force. Following their massacre, Joker went about contacting many members of his old gang as well as recruiting new members into his fold.

Joker and Omen's new crew laid low for few days after the two villains had laid siege to the policemen's ball to keep out of sight from both cops and Batman, but they thugs were starting to a bit antsy for some action. Joker was usually a pretty straight forward guy: kill anything and anyone he didn't like, and he didn't like anyone. But ever since he had started working alongside this newcomer, the clown had been playing it safe, something he had been known not to do by both his enemies and henchmen alike. It was almost as if the hooded rouge was the one giving orders. Of course, no one in the gang wanted to voice their opinion of the Omen out of fear of respite from either him or their boss, so they kept their mouths shut and did what they were told.

Currently, the Joker and his partner had gathered up their henchmen for their next job. The gang members were still in the dark about the duo's plan, but they still followed their orders if wanted to still get paid—or stay alive for that matter. The Omen was total mystery to the thugs, the Joker just introduced the masked villain one day and announced that they would be partners and they would take orders from him as well. Now supervillains in Gotham were nothing new, but usually their boss worked with someone with credit to their names, to have him team up with a total new guy was unheard of to the killer clown's cronies, then again, the Joker wasn't known for his orthodox work ethic.

"Ok fellas, I've got a job for you!" the Joker announced "and this is one of those 'screw up and I'll kill you dead' kinda jobs, so listen up!"

The Clown Prince of Crime then threw down a folder on the ground. The folder contained the photos of several people, some old and others young. Several of gang members picked up the pictures and began to pass them around so that the other thugs could get a good look of who their bosses wanted.

"So do we kill them when we find them?" one of henchmen asked

"No" the Omen commanded "you are to find these nine individuals and bring them back here, alive and unharmed. Is that clear?"

"What did these guys do to piss you off, boss?" another gang member inquired

No sooner had he said that had head opened with a good sizeable hole in it before he collapsed to the floor in a lifeless heap. Everyone looked away from the fresh corpse and back to their employer, who was holding a smoking revolver in his hand and had a smile on his face.

"Anyone else want to got a question?" he asked his cronies

Clearly getting the message loud and clear, the Joker's henchmen collectively rushed out of the delipidated factory and into the surrounding city, allowing the villainous partners to speak privately.

"Alive and unharmed?" the clown repeated in disdain "are you kidding me?!"

"I am not" the Omen assured him "I didn't have these people brought here just so you and your men can kill them. They have a— "

"A destiny, yeah I know" his partner cut off "you won't shut up about it!"

"Only because I must remind you so you won't do anything stupid!" the hooded villain explained sharply "remember, your destiny is tied with theirs, but it will only be so as they are kept alive!"

"Careful, O-face" the Joker warned darkly "if you keep mouthing off to me like that, then I might let slip of who's under that mask"

"Your threats mean little to me, Joker" the Omen hissed back "Without me and the destined ones, what you want can never be achieved"

Joker only scowled at his ally before backing off. Just then, one of the thugs came into the room.

"Boss" he began "we got that 'special guest' you wanted"

Hearing that news instantly brightened up the grinning gargoyles day. It took forty-grand, fifteen dead bodies and one big favor to call in from Black Mask, but he and the Omen got their man. Another pair of Joker's henchmen dragged in a man with a burlap sack over his head before roughly tossing him before the two villains. The hostage wanted to scream, if it not for the ball-gag in his mouth muffling his cries for help. The Omen reached down and pulled off the sack for a moment to confirm that this was the man they were looking for. He grinned under his mask at the frightened face of the man the villains had been looking back up at him before throwing the sack back over his head and kicking him to the ground.

"It's him" the scythe wielding villain affirmed

The psychotic clown unleashed a bone-chilling fit of laughter at the news. With this new hostage, they were one step closer to their ultimate victory. He stopped suddenly after remembering his partner's rules.

"I guess we can't touch this one" he said glumly, as if he were a child not allowed to eat any desert

"On the contrary, this one you and your men can have your fun with him. Within reason, of course" the Omen replied "I don't care what you do with him, but I want him kept alive, understand?"

"Aye, aye captain!" the Joker said with a smile and salute before turning to his men "I'm gonna need a bottle of horse cum, a set of rusty jumper cables, some hedge clippers, an Uncle Sam costume and a sandpaper strap-on!"

The helpless hostage let out more muffled cries of panic as Joker's goons dragged their victim out of the room so that they could begin their fun, all the while their leader cackled like a hyena the whole time. It was all coming together for the Omen. Soon he would have Wendy and the others in his grasp and he could move onto the next phase of his plane. He wished he could give them the chance to find out their history on their own, but the clown was becoming increasingly harder to control, so he had to move up the time table for his plans at a faster rate. Despite the Joker's annoyance, the Omen's goal would still come to fruition and all of Gotham would be brought to its knees.

* * *

"Now Heather, I want you to tell me everything about this obsession you have with the Waynes" the recording of Hugo Strange insisted in his cold, calm demeanor

Batman and Robin had been watching this and other recorded sessions between Strange and the late Heather Maddix Oracle had sent them within the batcave. They had been trying to find and understand the reason behind the woman's hatred of the Wayne family, which would hopefully give them a clue as to why the Omen shared that hatred. They watched the mad doctor poke, prod and shock the poor woman multiple times, all the while asking her almost the same questions repeatedly, it was almost getting to the point that it looked like Strange was enjoying himself—which wouldn't surprise the dynamic duo in the least. The latest session they were watching involved the former head of Arkam waterboarding his patient while he asked his questions.

"I know she wanted to kill you Bruce, but she didn't deserve…this" Tim said, stunned by sight before him

His partner had to agree with that. Heather may be mentally unstable, but she needed actual psychiatric help, not torture. Many of the dark knight's enemies were trapped in their own madness and never wished to be free from it. But Bruce had a sense that if she under the right medical care, then perhaps Ms. Maddix could've been reintroduced into society—maybe even reunited with her family.

"The Waynes destroyed my family" Heather answered on the session "they must be punished for what they did to us!"

"You talk as if your family is obsessed with this vendetta" Hugo mentioned "but neither of your parents share your obsession with the Waynes"

"Because their fools!" his patient snapped back "they don't see the injustice that was done to us! but I do!"

"Let's talk about something else" Hugo changed the subject "I want you to tell me about this"

The former head of Arkam then pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it to reveal a drawing of what looked like one-eyed triangle man wearing a top hat. in some of the other recordings they had seen, Batman and Robin noticed Heather drawing that symbol in several other recordings and it was found carved into her wall several hours before her death. Batman and Oracle had both dug through mountains historical research, ancient texts, and even conspiracy theory sites on the internet and in almost every place they looked, that symbol was there. It was the inspiration for all sort of cults throughout the centuries, as well as found at several crime scenes throughout the world. The point of origin of this symbol was unknown, but wherever this mark was, evil was sure to follow.

"It's…it's just a drawing" Heather answered hesitantly

"I know your lying to me, Heather" Strange said "and you know what happens when you lie to me"

Hugo began to waterboard the woman mercilessly. It was getting to the point where Tim almost felt the need to look away. But he knew that if he did, he may miss vital clue to all this madness. Just then, an incoming call from Barbra interrupted the recorded session.

"Go ahead, Oracle" Batman said

"I just finished speaking to Constantine like you asked" the former Batgirl began "I showed him that symbol that we found"

"What did he have to say?" the caped crusader questioned

"Nothing good" Oracle replied "He said that that symbol belongs to an ancient evil that's been around long before the dawn of man. Not much is known about this creature, but what is known is that it's a deceiver and a destroyer of worlds"

"Did John say how to fight it?" Bruce asked

"Only that you should run" Barbra answered

"Leave it to John Constantine to be the voice of confidence" Tim mocked glumly

"John said that he'd help you, but he and Zatanna are busy trying to keep some sacred stone out of Felix Faust's hands" Oracle continued "I tried to contact Dr. Fate, but his wife told me he's on another plain of existence with Swamp-Thing and Madame Xanadu at the moment"

"It's alright Barbra, we can handle it ourselves" Batman told her "Are you still tapped into the Gotham Plaza's security feed? Is the group that arrived from Gravity Falls still there?"

"Give me a second" Barbra said before gasping in shock "Their gone! Their all gone!

"Where could they have run off to?" Tim wondered

"The hallway camera feed has Robert Valentino leaving around midnight. Wendy Corduroy and Mason Pines left their rooms together at around four in the morning, followed by Mason's sister Mabel leaving with Pacifica an hour later" Oracle informed her allies "Stanly Pines and the rest woke up at around six, but another camera shows them breaking off with him and Soos Ramirez going one way and his brother and Gideon Gleeful going another"

"No doubt their trying to find the others who snuck off last night" Tim gathered "Tourists. Typical"

"Oracle, I want you to run through every camera and radio in Gotham" the dark knight ordered "Robin and I will start searching for them, and then hopefully we'll get some answers out of them"

"Even with Barbra's help, there's still a lot of ground to cover" Robin commented "not to mention they could run into serious trouble in this city if there not careful, if they haven't already"

"I'll call in some back-up" his partner assured "I just hope their alive when we find them"

With that, Batman pressed a button on his button, sending signal to the other members of the Bat-family to meet at the Batcave. While he would've preferred to just have it be him, Robin and Oracle, Tim had good point that the more eyes and ears in the city searching the descendants of the forgotten families the better. After informing Alfred what to tell their back-up when they arrived at the cave, the dark knight his young ward leapt into the Batmobile and took off back into the city.

* * *

Mabel and Pacifica's search for Dipper and Wendy wasn't going as well as they had hoped. For starters, neither of the girls knew the exact way to Arkam Asylum, and whenever they attempted to ask for directions to the madhouse, people only ignored them, clearly not wanting to even mention that awful place. It was getting to the point that their failed rescue attempt was going to lead to they themselves needing to be rescued. They attempted to contact Stan so that he could retrieve them, but the problem was that Mabel forgot her phone in her hotel room and Pacifica's phone had died due to her forgetting to charge it.

"I can't believe you forgot your phone, Mabel!" the heiress scolded her

"Hey, you forgot to charge yours!" Mabel argued

"Only because you practically shoved me out of my room before I chance to!" Pacifica shot back

The two girls continued their argument as they absentmindedly walked down another street corner. They were so caught up in their bickering that they had strayed away from more populated parts of the city and into the more darker sides of Gotham City. It wasn't until they had wandered into Park Row, better known as Crime Alley, that they realized that had taken a wrong turn into probably the most dangerous part of the city. Crime Alley was not only the infamously known as the place where Thomas and Martha Wayne were gunned down, but also a breeding ground for scum and villainy ranging from drugs and prostitution to rape and murder on a daily basis. It wasn't until they heard a gunshot in the distant followed by the sound of a dying scream that the two girls realized that they wandered into the wrong side of town.

"Mabel, where are we?" Pacifica as she looked around to find some way back the way they came

"No idea, but I wanna get out of here!" Mabel agreed "back how do we find a way out this place?"

"Well some people go this way, and others go that way" came a voice from behind the girls "But of course, there's always _**my**_ way"

Mabel and Pacifica spun around to see who had snuck up behind them. however, when they did, they were met with a suddenly blackness that made them fade from consciousness.

* * *

Leaving Arkam Asylum and going back into the city almost felt like a blurred memory to Mason and Wendy. They were to shook up of seeing Bill's image to even remember leaving the madhouse with Heather's things, which were just a few old books on the occult and a diary. Neither of the teens told Dr. Adams about their knowledge of the carving on the woman's cell out of fear of being placed in the madhouse alongside Riddler and Two Face like Wendy's mother was. Then again, there could've been a chance that Dr. Adams could've believed them, after all, in a world where Men of Steel, Amazonian Princesses and Scarlet Speedsters existed, you could explain a dream demon who could alter space and time to his whim. But Dipper and Wendy agreed that the less people who knew about Bill Cipher the better.

The guard at the front gate drove them down the bridge and back to the city before heading back to his post, all the while the teens remained deathly silent. There were so many questions swirling about in their heads it was difficult what to ask first. How did Wendy's mother know of Bill Cipher? Why did she carve his image into her cell's wall? But perhaps the first major question was the one hanging over the ginger's head: did her farther know about her mother's death?

"Do you…do you want to call your dad?" Mason asked gently as they walked down the street

"I…don't know" his lover answered as she carried the box full of her mother's things "I'm too scared to call and ask"

This was true. Wendy was almost more upset about the thought of her farther keeping her mother's death hidden from her then she was about her mother's possible connection to Bill. What was more troubling was what could she say to her three younger brother, who they could barely remember as it was. What just as serious was figuring out the reason as to why her mother carved an image of the creature who nearly destroyed all of reality.

"Do you think my mom could've been a member of the Society of the Blind Eye?" she theorized

"They only operated in Gravity Falls" Dipper replied before thinking out loud "on the other hand, your mother lived in the town long enough to maybe form a connection with them"

That wasn't totality out of the question. The Society of the Blind Eye was cult that worshipped Bill and prepared Gravity Falls for his arrival, but Dipper, Wendy and the others managed to defeat them and cause them to ultimately fall apart. However, it was possible that the society was stretched out across the U.S and beyond with different chapters of cult spread over every major city, including Gotham. it wasn't too hard to imagine that being a true, there were rumors of another secret society living in Gotham since its founding centuries ago—The Court of Owls they were called. So, if they possibly real, why couldn't another cult dedicated to Bill exist here? Not that either of the teen's actuality wanted that to be true, but it would explain the late woman's knowledge of the dream demon.

As they continued to head back to the hotel, the couple failed to notice a pair of men stalking them from afar. The men slowly made their way closer to the teen's, all the while keeping them in their line of sight. However, as they began to close the distant between them, Wendy started to notice their stalkers gaining on them.

"Mason, I need you to be cool, but— "she attempted to say

"We're being followed, yeah, I noticed them to" her lover cut off "Let's try to lose them in that alleyway up ahead"

The couple slightly picked up speed in their step as they tried to widen the gap between them and the thugs following them. Once they reached the alleyway, they made a sharp turn right into with the full intention of making a run for it. That was until they were face to face with five other men who blocked their path and the two that were following them blocked the exit.

"Ok, this wasn't one of my best ideas" Dipper admitted

It was clear from the clown tattoos and face paint that the men were in service to Gotham's greatest villain, the Joker. But what was unknown to the teen's was as to why these men under the Clown Prince of Crime's command were after them, but then again, this was probably just another run of the mill mugging for them.

"Are these the ones?" one of the thugs asked

"Yeah, these are two of the guys the Joker wants" another replied "and remember, the boss wants them alive and unharmed"

"Aw, that's too bad" another of the gang members mentioned as he looked over Wendy "I really wanted to take a bite out of the redhead"

"Bite me and I'll tear your throat out!" Wendy warned, to which the men laughed

"Why does the Joker even want us?" Mason questioned

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough kid" another one of gang members answered with a chuckle

The two men behind them then came up and attempted to grab the teen's, but just as then did. Wendy took hold of one of the men's arms and twisted it around to his back, making her opponent yowl in pain. The other thug who was reaching for Dipper was also taken by the wrist by the cap wearing-teen and flung over the boy's shoulder and onto his back. Wendy was surprised by Dipper's surprise self-defense before quickly remembering that she too had her own problem. The lumberjack's daughter kicked her enemy into another one of the thugs while another three ran at the three charged at the teen's. Suddenly a gun-shot rang out that caught everyone's attention. The one owning the gun happened to be one of the Joker's henchmen who was more than likely the leader of the group.

"The next bullet I shoot is gonna go through one of you if you don't give up!" he ordered the couple

Just as Dipper and Wendy were about to surrender, everyone heard a deep growl from the shadows of the alleyway, like that of a large animal. Suddenly, the gang's leader was sucked into the darkness behind him. The creature that captured the man could be heard tearing into the punk's flesh, all the while he gargled out scream as his blood filled his lungs. Within moments, his mangled corpse was tossed back out for all to see before what had slaughtered him stepped out to reveal himself.

"Let 'em go" Killer Croc warned with a hiss "Now!"

"Shit! It's Croc!" cried out in a panic "run!"

"No! if we run then Joker will kill us!" another reasoned "so I say we kill this freak first!"

"It's your funeral" Waylon shrugged

With that, the remaining gang members rushed at the man-lizard. Croc swung his arm and sent two them flying into a wall with bone-shattering force before using his other hand to reach out and punch a third man to the ground. Croc then stomped his foot on the downed man's head, crushing with ease in the process. Another thug pulled out a knife and tried to stab Croc in the back, but the blade only broke upon contact with the beast's thick skin. Croc spun around and grabbed the man who attempted to stab him by the throat, he then pulled his claws back, taking a huge chunk of his prey's throat along with it.

The two henchmen that Dipper and Wendy had bested joined the fray and tried to tackle the reptile-man, only for Croc to take them both by the head and squeeze until their skulls cracked like eggs in his cold-blooded grip. He dropped their lifeless bodies before turning his attention toward the final gang member, for has the common sense to try to run further down the alleyway. But it was too late, in a no time at all, Croc managed to chase him down and pin him against the wall, where he bit the poor soul's head clean off and spit it into a nearby garbage can.

During this massacre, Dipper and Wendy were to stunned by the events that had just transpired. First they were going to be turned over to the Joker for some unknown reason and the next thing they knew they were witnesses to the slaughter of their would-be kidnappers at the hands of another infamous villain in Batman's rouges gallery. They still had no idea why Joker wanted them or even how he knew they were in the city, let alone as to why Croc just burst in to save them. it could be that Croc was hired by the Joker to get the job, but why go through the trouble of killing his own men if that were true?

As the questioned continued to buzz about their heads, Croc was walking back to them, covered in the gore of his latest victims and tracking blood with every step he took. Dipper somehow found the courage to step in front of Wendy as a way of defending her, but the cannibal looked past him and get his vision locked solely on the redhead.

"Are you Wendy Corduroy?" he asked in a surprisingly polite voice

"Y-Yes" Wendy found herself stammering out

The man-lizard took a few steps closer to the couple before doing something surprising, he kneeled so that he could be on level with them.

"I was a friend of your mother's" he said "She asked me to protect you if anything should happen to her"

* * *

Mabel's vision was a blur as she limped down the empty as decaying streets of Crime Ally. After being attacked by their mysterious assailant, the sweater wearing girl found herself waking up alone in a pile of garbage bags and her head gushing blood. Pacifica was nowhere to be found and there was no sign of anyone else around. Despite the pain she was feeling, Mabel forced herself to her feet and started to search for any trace of her now missing friend. Her legs felt as though they were on fire and blood from her headwound kept running into her eyes, causing already blurred vision to be even more obscured. She wanted to call out to Pacifica, but she didn't want to attract the attention of anyone else with ill-intent to her.

How could she be so foolish? How could she even think that she could just wander aimlessly around one of the most crime ridden cities in the world without a plan and find her brother and his girlfriend just like that? She should've just gone to the police or just gone straight to Grunkle Stan and Ford from the start. But she wanted to prove to everyone, and to herself, that she was so much more than just the fun twin. The pain was getting to point that she could barely stand, let alone take another step forward, forcing her to sit down. She had failed, she failed her family, her friend and herself. In attempting to find someone, she ended up losing another in the process.

Mabel was starting to feel tired and lightheaded as she sat down. As her eyes began to close, she could see the faint images of two figures approaching her. she wanted to run and hide, but Mabel could feel her whole body going numb with each passing second. As her her eyes finally shut, she could hear one of the figures speak to the other.

"Gee red, she don't look so good"


	7. Faith in Monsters

Chapter Six: Faith in Monsters

The words that the lizard-like cannibal had just spoken almost didn't register to Dipper and Wendy, they were still in a state of shock after seeing the slaughter that had just occurred moments ago. Killer Croc was a well-known and feared enemy to Batman who was known best for his incredible strength and brutality, as well as his rather…unique way of making bodies disappear. There a time in Croc's life where he once ruled the Gotham underworld with an iron fist before the Dark Knight knocked him off his perch, after that the man-lizard seemed to slowly devolve into the man-eater he was today.

What really threw them off was Croc's claim that Wendy's had given him the order to protect her from her now departed mother. Admittedly, they didn't want to believe that her mother had any connection to the monster before them, but after their visit to Arkam, they had discovered that Heather Maddix had become a sort celebrity among the inmates of the asylum. On the other hand, there was still the fear to Wendy and Mason that her mother's killer was standing before them now.

"Are you guys ok?" the brute asked

Croc's gargled, snarling voice made the couple snap back to the here and now. Waylon knew that his appearance was scaring the teens and took a few steps back, but not so far enough that they could run off and get captured or killed by the Joker's men.

"Why did you save us?" Wendy questioned

"Like I said, your mother wanted me to protect you" Waylon reaffirmed "it was her last request"

"And why didn't you protect her instead?" the redhead asked sharply "where were you when she was killed?"

"Wendy…" Dipper said tensely, hoping not to provoke the man-eater

Rather than show anger at that outburst, Croc's face softened as a look of remorse and shame formed upon it.

"I wasn't in Arkam when she was killed" he replied as gently as his voice permitted him, but still filled with remorse "I wish that I was…"

"How do you even know my mom to begin with" Wendy pressed further

"She kind to me when I was locked up" the beast explained "She treated more human than anyone ever had in my entire life"

The way the cannibal spoke about her mother made Wendy see a different side to the man-lizard then the media had portrayed him to be. However, both she and Dipper kept their guard up, knowing that Croc could turn on them at the drop of a hat.

"Last time I saw her, she told me that she felt her time on earth was coming to an end" he continued "She said that if you ever came to Gotham I was to protect you from those who would see you and your friend's dead"

"People like the Joker" Dipper gathered "why is he after us?"

"It's not just the Joker you should be worried about, kid" Croc corrected "You should also fear his partner, the Omen"

"The Omen?" Wendy repeated in confusion "whose he?"

"He's your mother's killer" the man-lizard stated

Like a being hit in the stomach, the revelation Croc had just said nearly knocked the poor girl off of her feet. She finally had the name of who had taken her mother away from her, but the question remained: why did this Omen character kill her mother to begin with?

"I don't why he wanted your mother dead, but when he attacked the policemen's ball a few days ago, he claimed to fight for the forgotten families of Gotham" Croc furthered before growling "he's got a funny way of showing his devotion"

A lightbulb suddenly went off in Dipper as he made the connection to the Clown Prince of Crime's mysterious partner and the unknown host that had brought them here in the first place.

"It was him" he began in realization "the Omen must've have been the one sent those letters to us!"

"But those letters where written in my mother's handwriting" Wendy reasoned "this guy couldn't have copied her handwriting word for word…could he?"

"If he had enough practice, he might be able to" Dipper pointed out "He killed your mother six months ago, that's more than enough time to learn who to mimic someone's handwriting if they practiced hard enough"

Wendy's heart sank further into her chest; first she discovers that he mother was killed and now the fact that her very killer had audacity to copy her words to lure her and her friends to this hellhole of a city for some unknown purpose only saddened her more. At that moment, her resolve came in full force, she was done being sad and would only focus on one thing: making this Omen character suffer for his crimes. However, there was still one question that remain unanswered.

"Oh my god" Dipper once again gasped, but this time in horror "Why didn't I see it sooner!"

"See what?" his girlfriend questioned

"I should've figure it out back at the asylum" he continued before addressing Wendy "think: if our families had a connection to Gotham, then why would the Omen just send letters to just us and not our whole families?"

The answer to the question posed dropped in Wendy's mind like an atom bomb. Like Mason, she should've put the pieces together the second she saw the craving of Bill Cipher on the wall in her mother's cell.

"Oh god" the older girl said she put it together "he knows about the Cipher Wheel!"

"Cipher what?" Croc asked, dumbfounded by the couple's whole conversation

"We'll explain it to you later" Wendy said to him

"Oh no we won't!" her lover denied "Wendy, can we have a talk for a moment?"

Before she could argue with him, Dipper took his girlfriend by the hand and pulled her aside and away from Killer Croc.

"Have you lost your mind?!" he demanded in a harsh whisper to keep the supervillain from hearing him "that monster has killed people—and eaten them! we can't trust him!"

"He just saved our lives, Mason!" Wendy whispered back sharply "I think that counts for a little trust!"

"For all we know, this could be some big trick and he could be taking right to the Joker!" her boyfriend countered "I say we ditch this freak and go straight back to the hotel and tell the others about all this"

"Mason, there's still almost fifty miles between us and the hotel, who knows how many other of Joker's men we could run into in that time" Wendy explained "I know what Croc's capable of, but if he really was sent by my mother to keep us safe, then we should at least give him the benefit of the doubt"

Dipper didn't like this at all, but his girlfriend had a point. There was still a lot of ground to cover between them and their destination, and if the Joker and the Omen were really dead-set on finding them then they would have Joker's men scouring the city and even have the hotel cased out. Mason considered calling Stan and Mabel to warn them, but knowing them, they'd go out to find them if they hadn't already and would also be caught in the killer clown's trap. There was also the fear that Joker and his partner may have bugged their phones; true, that was a bit paranoid, but the Joker had access to some dangerous equipment so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. If they we're survive, they may need cannibal's protection to make it back to Mabel and the others.

"…fine" he finally relented "But let's keep a close on him"

Wendy nodded in agreement before they turned their attention back to the villain.

"Can you get us back to the Gotham Plaza Hotel?" the ginger inquired "we have friends and family there and they could be in danger"

"I can do that" Croc assured "I know a safe route there, but you might not like it"

With that, he led the teens to nearby manhole. He opened it up, releasing all the horrid smells of Gotham's filth out of it and right into the couple's nostrils, making them gag from the stench. However, rather than argue, they knew that this was in fact the only safe way back to the hotel without catching the attention of the Joker's thugs. Croc crawled in first before Dipper and Wendy followed him into the sewer, closing the manhole back up behind them as they did.

However, unaware to the newly formed trio, someone was watching them. she had been stalking Dipper and Wendy for some time now, but waited for the perfect moment to strike. She nearly had the perfect moment to kill the two teens' and earn a million for each of them like Hush had promised her, but her opportunity was ruined when Joker's men showed up, and now with Croc giving them protection it only made things even more complicated. The assassin would've skipped them for now and moved onto the others targets she was hired to take out, but they had already left the hotel and were scattered throughout Gotham, forcing her to pick targets carefully. Croc would be a challenge, but the brute wouldn't be too hard to get past with skills like hers, after with Hush a million per head, it was the risk. So, after waiting several minutes after they had disappeared into the sewers, the assassins followed her prey into the city's bowels, ready to collect her payment.

* * *

Mabel couldn't remember what happened after she had blacked out in Crime Alley. The last thing she saw was two figures slowly approaching her before her vision darkened. The teen knew she wasn't dead, then again, she didn't have any experience in dyeing before, so this could all be a part of the death process. just then she felt some wet and slimy run across her face, making her open her eyes to discover that she was still in the land of the living. However, that might quickly change since the thing that had been licking her face were a pair of hyenas.

Mabel shrieked in fright before scurrying backwards on what she discovered was a sofa. The hyenas backed off and allowed the teen to get some bearings on where she was. To her surprise, she was no longer in Crime ally, but what looked a run-down theater with home appliances put on the stage to change it into a make shift home. The hyperactive girl was confused beyond reason; how did she get here? And more importantly, who brought her and for what purpose?

"Oh good, you're up" came a woman's voice from behind her

The teen spun around to face her rescuer and thank her for saving her, but the moment she saw who was now standing before her, she instantly froze up in sheer terror. There were two women standing before here, and both of them where infamous to say the least. The first was a redhaired woman with an almost pale green hue to her skin and her clothing were more like plants that wrapped around her body. The other woman was dressed in a one-piece red and black harlequin suit in make-up and a domino mask with a large mallet slung over her shoulder.

"Holy crap…" she gasped "Y-your Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy"

"Those are our names kiddo, don't wear 'em out!" the clown said with a smile

Mabel was too scared to make an even so much as a sound. She knew from the stories that both of the woman before where were dangerous and had come close to killing Batman on multiple occasions, not to mention they had filled whole graveyards with uncountable amount of bodies. Whatever the reason for why they took Mabel back to they're lair; she could only imagine that it was nothing good.

"P-please don't kill me" she begged in almost a whisper

"Now is that anyway to thank the people who saved you?" Ivy asked

"Saved me?" the girl repeated in disbelief

"Yeah, you were bleedin' all over the place when red an' me found y'a" Harley answered "So we brought you back here and patched you up"

To say Mabel was confused by all this was an understatement, she was completely dumbfounded by the fact that two of the most dangerous women in Gotham had just saved her life.

"But why would you save me?" Mabel questioned suspiciously "aren't you two supposed to be villains?"

"Just because we're the bad guys, doesn't mean we can't do some good every now and again" the Clown Princess of Crime reasoned "We're still human after all"

"Well, mostly human" Ivy corrected, referring to herself

The teen reached up to where her head wound was and found that it had been stitched back up. Just then, a flood of memories rushed into her mind all at once to remind her what had happened and who was missing.

"Oh my god!" she nearly shouted in realization "They took Pacifica!"

"They took who now?" Harley said in puzzlement

"She's my friend" Mabel answered "were attacked by someone and that's how I ended up with this headwound. I came to a little while later, but when I woke up, she was gone!"

"Well, that's unfortunate" Ivy commented in indifferent voice "But I don't see how that our problem"

"But we have to save her!" the sweater wearing teen demanded

"No, _**you**_ have to save her" the plant-themed villain countered " _ **We**_ don't have to do anything"

"But what about all that stuff you said about doing good things?" Mabel questioned

"Look kid, we already did our good deed for the month by saving your sorry butt, and you should be happy that we did that much!" Harley mentioned before pointing to a nearby door "So scram!"

Mabel felt a surge of anger rise within her. She should've known better then to ask a pair of villains for help, but she far from friends and family and unable to get in contact with them, not to mention she had no idea how to get to the police station, or even where it was in this city for that matter, and it wasn't like she had a Bat-Signal she could shine into the sky. Suddenly, an idea sparked in the sweater wearing girl's mind. It was a risky gambit, but it wasn't like she had a lot of options to work with at the moment.

"Alright, I'll go" she began as she turned and began to walk away "this is more of a job for the police anyway"

As she made her way to the door, she made she that she took each step slow and steady.

"Maybe they'll even get Batman on the case" she continued, letting her words sink into the pair of villains' heads "But in order to do that, I'd have to tell them everything. Even how I got this headwound stitched up"

Just as she was about to reach out at touch the doorknob, a wall of vines slithered over the door to keep her from touching it. Mabel forced herself to hide a smirk before she turned around to see a very irate Harley and Ivy glaring back at her. She knew she wasn't in any serious danger since neither of the villains were known for killing children, so she knew that she had them.

"Y'a got some nerve, y'a brat!" the Joker's lover scolded as she crossed her arms and pouted

"So does that mean you'll help me?" Mabel asked

"It's not like you're giving us a choice" Ivy sighed in defeat

"Awesome!" Mabel cheered "Thank You!"

"Hey! Don't push your luck, kid!" Harley warned

"My name is Mabel" the young girl stated

"Whatever" the clown brushed off "Now what's your friend look like?"

"She's my age, wears tons of purple, has blonde hair— "she attempted to explain

"Blonde hair?" Harley spoke up "Well that's shortens it down on who took your friend"

"It does?" the hyperactive girl asked "Who?"

"The Mad Hatter" Ivy replied "If any anyone has your friend; it would be him"

A chill ran down Mabel's spine in fear for her friend upon hearing that name. Jervis Tetch A.K.A the Mad Hatter was a psychopath how was obsessed with the classic story of Alice in Wonderland. What made him so terrifying was that beneath his madness lied the mind of a genius who could put people under his control, surrendering his free will to him and forced to do his bidding. He was a known pedophile who had a preference for young blonde girls, whom he made to be his Alice until they were either rescued or whenever he got tired of them. The thought Pacifica in the clutches of that monster horrified Mabel to no end.

"Well what are we waiting for?! We need to find her!" she said in a panic

"Relax kiddo, we'll get her back" Harley assured her "After all, the best way to fight crazy people is to fight them with even crazier people!"

* * *

After getting their fill of beating, burning and sodomizing their captive, the Joker and his men left their plaything tied down to a chair in an empty room in the factory to save him for later for whenever they got bored again. When the Omen found their captive, he was sobbing beneath the sack that had been over his head and left only in his underwear. the hooded villain had no sympathy for the man, he was merely a pawn in his master plan for Gotham. and unlike the others he had brought to the city, this man had no ties to this city, but he still served a great purpose to fulfill, but once he lived out his usefulness, the Omen would drown his scythe in the man's blood.

He reached out and yanked off the sack from his captive's head so that he could look pawn in the eye. It was clear from the heavy bruises and burn marks that adorned his skin that the Omen's psychotic partner and a grand time in tormenting the man, obviously getting some anger out from the lack of major progress their plan had made. The Omen could care less about the clown's demands, his plans would all come together in due time.

"P-please…" the hostage begged "Just let me go…"

"I'm afraid I cannot do that" the Omen denied "you are here to serve your purpose"

The hooded villain pressed his blade against the man's throat, making his victim weep at the thought of another beating.

"I have big plans for you, Mr. Mcguket" he informed the prospector


End file.
